A Count's best friend
by Torok7
Summary: Count Spankulot gets an unlikely ally. But when there's turmoil between them can they truly be allies?
1. Chapter 1

I do not own anything from the KND except my characters.

A Count's best friend.

Ch. 1

Devon was a normal 18 year old, he liked video games, playing guitar, listening to music, battling the bratty Kids Next Door. The war between the teen and adult villains and the KND really hit home for him, his annoying little brother was part of the KND. They were having battles all the time, it was an outright war with just the two of them at each other's throats, let alone what was going on outside the house.  
Devon was always one step ahead of his kid brother, after all he taught him everything he knew and still remembered it.  
Unlike most teenagers who leave the KND, Devon's memory was never erased. Thanks to his skill with KND technology he was able to tamper with the machine that would have erased everything he knew about the KND, pretty good for a 13 year old, if he didn't say so himself.  
With his knowledge of the KND still in tact he was able to have an advantage, not only with his brother, but with his brother's equally annoying teammates. They were fairly easy adversaries, even when they attacked him on the streets. A bit of mustard in his hair or soda on his clothes didn't change anything, he could still kick their butts. He had modified his metal staff that he was given when he joined the ranks of teenagers working against the KND. Installing a retractable leash and studded dog collar at the end of it that could grow bigger or smaller was really helpful. His modified staff was a multi-purpose tool/weapon, he could use it to grapple to scale small buildings, a lasso, a flail and he could use the end of it as a club.  
Building gadgets and weapons came second nature to him, he was his team's tech specialist when he was in the KND. Even if he didn't look the part of a tech geek, he was one. And with being a geek there came the bullies, of course he knew how to handle himself. Not only did he beat them up but he'd also get extra revenge by stealing their homework. The bullies usually have the nerds doing homework for them so there was almost never a bad essay or worksheet, which was good for him.  
Devon's looks complimented his brains, he was a skinny, light skinned man with slick black hair and a handsome complexion.  
He was still living with his parents for he hadn't found an apartment yet. Perhaps one day he would find a place to stay on his own, it wasn't like an offer to live somewhere was just going to come flying through his window.  
Suddenly, his large window was flung open and a dark purple fog came in from outside and filled part of his room. A tall, dark figure emerged from the fog.  
Devon grabbed his staff from under the bed and stood, holding the staff in both hands in a defensive way.  
"Kevin, those who lie to their parents about a dog eating their homework will feel the stingy wrath of Count Spankulot!" The figure spoke with an accent of some sort, he raised both of his arms up in the air and let out a laugh.  
Devon saw that this figure was a vampire, he recognized him, when he was a kid he'd get visits from him often, even when he was a teenager he'd pop in to tech him a lesson. Devon lowered his staff and held it in one hand, lowering his guard. He cleared his throat. "Excuse me, Count?" He asked, trying to get the vampire's attention.  
"What is it?" Said the Count. He looked at Devon. "Wait, you are not Kevin..." He said, lowering his arms.  
"No, my little brother is down the hall. Long time no see, Count." Devon said.  
"Yes, long time indeed... I remember you. Your mother kept calling me to punish you for such strange reasons. Chasing the neighbor's cat," said the Count before being interrupted.  
"It looked at me funny." Devon said.  
"Don't interrupt me! I've also gotten calls because you dug up the backyard, chased cars, barked up trees for squirrels, drank out of the toilet." Said the Count.  
Devon chuckled. "Yeah, I did do that, didn't I? I had my reasons though..."  
"What reason could you have to drink out of the toilet? That is disgusting!" Asked the Count in a semi disgusted tone.  
"Hey, don't knock it till you try it, anyway don't you have a naughty little kid to punish?" Devon asked, opening the bedroom door and pointing to the hallway with his staff.  
The Count walked out of the room.  
"Give him a few extra swats for me." Devon said to the Count as he was going down the hallway.  
The Count didn't seem to acknowledge his request as he walked into Kevin's room.  
Devon watched and listened from his bedroom doorway. He heard his little brother yell out with his prepubescent girly voice. He smirked a bit as he heard the small conversation between the Count and Kevin.  
"Those who lie about their homework being eaten by a dog will feel the stingy wrath of Count Spankulot!" Said the Count, laughing.  
"No, stay back!" Said Kevin in a voice that couldn't scare a fly.  
The Count laughed at his threat. "Stop being a baby and take your spa- Ahh!"  
Devon stepped out of his room as soon as he heard something being rapidly fired, it sounded a lot like his brother's G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A. Devon ran to his brother's room and saw him firing gum balls at the Count with his G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A.  
The Count was covering himself with his cape while he was being pelted with the numerous gum balls being shot at him.  
Devon gripped his staff firmly and jumped in between the vampire and the boy, he started to spin his staff around like a propellor, knocking the gum balls all over the place. Soon Kevin ran out of ammo, before he could say something or do anything else, Devon pointed his staff at him, pressed a button and shot the dog collar at him. The collar wrapped around his arms, making him drop his weapon.  
"Hey, what are you-" Kevin began to say, but Devon yanked the leash, pulling Kevin to the floor.  
"Shut it and take the punishment the Count is trying to give you..." Devon said.  
Count Spankulot walked over to Kevin, picked him up by his shirt and started to walk over to a chair with him.  
Devon released the collar's grip on his brother.  
Kevin struggled to get away from the Count. "When mom hears about this, you'll be in for it!" Kevin said to his brother.  
"Mom probably called him, shoulda done your homework like a good boy." Devon said, wagging a finger at him and smirking.  
Kevin struggled even more.  
The Count sat down in the chair, put the struggling child over his lap and held him down. "These are for lying!" Said the Count as he swatted the child several times.  
Kevin screamed in pain and struggled even more.  
"These are for shooting spherical gum at me!" Said the Count, hitting him harder with twice as many swats.  
Kevin cried and struggled even more.  
Devon retracted the leash back into his staff, crossed his arms and leaned up against the wall, watching.  
"And these are from your brother!" Said the Count, giving him a few extra swats before setting him down.  
Kevin ran into his closet and closed the door, whining about the pain.  
The Count stood up and walked toward Devon.  
Devon stood normally and watched him.  
The Count slapped him on the back. "Thank you for your help, Devon! I almost feel bad for all those times I spanked you."  
"No problem, Count. We are on the same side now after all." Devon said, smiling at him.  
The Count smiled back. "Since you are an adult villain now and still live at home why do you not come and live with me? You'll be very useful to me in my quest to deliver justice."  
"I'll think about it, Count." Devon said.  
"Very well, I shall return tomorrow night before the dawn approaches for your answer." The Count said, before disappearing.  
Devon looked to the closet his brother had locked himself in, he turned toward the bedroom door, he looked towards the closet one last time.  
Kevin was heard quietly sobbing in the closet.  
"Sweet dreams, squirt." Devon said, casually walking out of the room.  
"My bottom hurts!" Kevin complained.  
"Good!" Devon called from down the hallway and walked back into his room. He shut the door, put his staff back under the bed and laid down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. 'I'll pack tomorrow, it'll be good to finally get out of this house. I wonder if the Count will have me pay rent for staying at his place? He doesn't seem the type to care about money. I'll probably only need to work for my place in his home... I'll see what happens soon enough... Gotta get some rest...' Devon thought to himself, closing his eyes. His stomach started to growl. He opened his eyes, got out of bed, walked to his desk and picked up a paper. It was a math worksheet with Kevin's name on it. 'But first it's time to finish my brother's homework...'


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2

After saying farewell to his family, well, at least to his mother and father, Devon spent the rest of the day packing. Packing was easy for him since he had some 2x4 tech still left over from his days as a KND operative. He had a shrink ray that he used to shrink all of the things he wanted to take with him. All he had was a duffle bag and a backpack to carry with him that contained all of his things. His room had nothing but empty dressers and his bed.  
Devon had fallen asleep at around one in the morning waiting for Count Spankulot to show up.  
Almost four hours later Devon's window flew open again and the same dark purple fog entered his room. Count Spankulot emerged ominously from the fog and loomed over Devon. "Devon, I have come for you..." He said in an ominous voice.  
Devon didn't respond, he was in a deep sleep and started to snore.  
The Count stared at him with annoyance. "Devon?" He gripped him by the shoulders and shook him. "Wake up!"  
Devon's head tilted back and his mouth fell open, he snored even louder.  
The Count dropped him and rolled him over onto his stomach and got a smirk on his face before landing a hard swat across his posterior.  
"Ahhh!" Devon yelled as he held his own behind.  
"Good, you are awa-" Before the Count could finish his sentence he found himself laying on the floor with a dog collar on his neck, the tip of a staff pressed against his neck and an angry, growling Devon standing over him with a foot on his chest.  
Devon calmed down after a few seconds of realizing who it was. He loosened the tightness of the collar and lifted his staff, slipping the collar from around the vampire's neck. "Sorry..." He said, stepping off the Count's chest. "But you shouldn't spank me when I'm asleep. I get startled when people do that and I could have seriously hurt you." He said, offering a hand to the stunned vampire.  
The Count got up on his own and dusted himself off. "Well, at least now I know how strong you are. You will be more of a help than I originally thought."  
"So what exactly will I be doing to help you?" Devon asked.  
"Why, you shall be my bodyguard of course. I have the unfortunate luck of... The childrens fighting back sometimes. Especially childrens in the Kids Next Door or childrens related to the childrens in the Kids Next Door." Replied the Count.  
After a few seconds of confusion, Devon asked. "Don't you mean 'children'? 'Children' is a word that's already plural, as in more than one, therefore it is grammatically incorrect to say 'childrens'. Not only is the word 'childrens' incorrect grammatically, but it's also not real." Devon said.  
The Count seemed offended. "Are you saying I do not know how to speak? I am over a thousands years old!"  
"See? There you go again, 'a thousands'. 'A thousand' is one thousand. If you meant to say more than one thousand, like 'two thousand' then you would drop the 'a' and just say 'thousands'." Devon corrected.  
"Forget grammar!" Count Spankulot ordered and raised one hand in the air, lightning and thunder could be seen and heard outside.  
"Ok, ok, ok..." Devon said, cowering a bit. The memories of all the times the Count has punished him, almost four times a week sometimes, came back to him as soon as he saw that large, gloved hand raised, its palm poised ready strike a tender area. Not to mention, the Count's disapproving, angry glare. Devon closed his eyes. "You can speak however you want! Just don't spank me!" He said, almost pleading.  
The Count lowered his arm. "Good. Now, get your belongings, we leave now." He commanded.  
Devon opened his eyes and took a second to calm down from the flashbacks of childhood and teenhood punishments he took from the Count. He grabbed the two bags containing all of his things. He put his staff in his backpack and put his backpack on. "I'm ready. Let's go."  
Count Spankulot grabbed his arm firmly.  
Devon flinched a bit, but fought the instinct to pull away.  
The Count pulled his cloak over both of them and they disappeared in a cloud of fog. As soon as they materialized, Devon pulled away and covered his nose with his hand. "Gah! Don't you ever wash that cloak!? I have a very sensitive nose..."  
The Count looked at him with anger again.  
Devon cowered a bit as soon as he saw the Count's eyes again. "Would it be too late to say 'I'm sorry'?" He asked.  
The Count didn't say a word as he walked forward.  
Devon looked to follow him but just stood there as soon as he saw that they were in front of a large castle. It was old and situated atop a large hill. It looked as if it was built in the Medieval times, or even earlier. He began to follow the Count while staring at the grand architecture he was walking towards. "You live here...?" Devon asked.  
The Count stopped by the raised drawbridge and pointed at the mailbox with 'Spankulot' written on it in fancy letters.  
Devon looked at the mailbox. "Oh, right..."  
The Count raised his hand and the drawbridge lowered. He walked across the bridge.  
Devon followed him and they were now in the courtyard of the castle. There wasn't much except for a large fountain in the middle of the courtyard with some stone benches around it. There was a statue in the middle of the fountain of a vampire spanking a little boy, water came out of the child statue's eyes and flew in an arch into the fountain. This piece of art both intrigued and terrified Devon.  
"That statue is of my great great grandfather, Count Benedict Spankulot and my great grandfather George Spankulot. The sculpture is of Count Benedict turning his son, see how there is no glove on his hand?" Asked the Count.  
"Yes." Devon said.  
"That is how we vampires turn others into vampires." Said the Count.  
"Ah, similar to a weredog bite." Devon asked.  
The Count looked at him with an odd look in his eyes when he said that.  
Devon looked at him, wondering what was wrong.  
"Yes, like a weredog bite, except less savage and disgusting..." Said the Count, walking towards the main castle doors.  
Devon wondered what was up with him, and got a bit nervous as he followed.  
They walked up some stone steps and there were double doors with a hand carved on them. The Count pushed the doors open and walked in a grand hall.  
Devon walked in with him. His mouth was agape with the hall's beauty. The floor was made up of tile with decorations on it. Along the side of the hall stood mannequins dressed in black garments similar to the Count's. The garments looked old and some of them tattered.  
"These garments belonged to my family's vampire servants. There were more of us then..." Said the Count.  
"What happen to them?" Devon asked.  
"I'll show you." Said the Count, taking a turn into a different room.  
Devon followed him. As soon as he stepped into the room he felt odd. The air in there felt wrong...  
They walked through a corridor and soon stepped into a large, circular room with a painting covering a large portion of the ceiling. It was a painting depicting vampires fighting weredogs... Devon stopped in his tracks. He had never seen anything like this, he never knew this piece of history. "Vampires and weredogs are... Enemies...?"  
"Yes, this painting tells the tales of the final big battle between-" Said the Count, before being interrupted.  
Devon gasped in pain before blurting out. "Tale! One tale, not plural." He closed his eyes and looked down a bit. That actually hurt, Count Spankulot's incorrectness actually hurt him... How? Devon took a deep breath and opened his eyes to look at the Count. "Forgive me, go on."  
The Count started to raise his hand, but then lowered it after a few seconds. He'd punish him for that later. "As I was saying, this was the final battle between vampire and weremutt. Do you see that vampire in the center?" He asked, pointing up.  
Devon looked up and saw a vampire holding up a document. The weredogs that looked at this document were all either fearful, in pain or running away.  
"He was Count Benedict, the one who built this castle and ended the weredog problem." Said the Count, proudly.  
"He used a document to defeat the weredogs?" Devon asked.  
"Yes, weremutts hate one thing, and that is incorrect things. So he forged something so incorrect that it drove the weremutts away. He even got a crack at the alpha mutt before it ran with its tail between its legs." The Count said, laughing.  
Devon just stood there, he didn't know what to say, a document that makes an entire pack of weredogs run in fear was truly dangerous...  
"Look." Said the Count, putting a hand on his back and walking with him. "The legendary weapon is here." He said.  
Devon stopped as soon as he saw it. The old parchment was encased in a glass case. The horrid sight of it was in full view of Devon. He swore that he heard voices as he got closer to the thing.  
'Two plus two equals six... Hamlet was the village idiot... Clean water is poison... Winters in England are hot... The square root of pi is cherry... A brown cow gives chocolate milk...'  
Devon backed up, held his head and closed his eyes. It was so incorrect, it hurt so badly...  
"What is wrong?" Asked the Count.  
"N-... Nothing... I'm just tired." Devon said, taking his hands off his head and looking at Count Spankulot. "Can you please take me to my room?" He asked.  
"Of course, it is almost dawn, it is time to sleep." The Count said, taking him by the arm and enveloping both of them in his cloak.  
They reappeared in a grand looking bedroom. The Count let go of him. Devon didn't complain about the horrid stench of the Count's cloak this time, he was just glad to be out of that room. He looked around the room, there was a large set of windows with thick black curtains covering them, a fancy vase on a pedestal, a large dresser, a large closet and a coffin.  
"That's a coffin..." Devon observed, pointing at it.  
"Well of course. What do you think you sleep in?" Asked the Count.  
Devon set his things down on the elegant tiled floor. "But I'm not a vampire..."  
"Yes." Count Spankulot said, starting to remove his right glove from his hand. "Not yet..."  
"W-w-what are you doing?" Devon asked, backing up. "I've done nothing wrong... You have no right to spank me..." He bumped into the pedestal and the vase fell to the floor and shattered. Devon looked at the shattered vase. "Oh poop..." Devon yelled in surprise as the vampire grabbed him and put him over his knee.  
"That was my family's vase! You have been bad and must be punished!" Said the Count, holding him down as he raised his hand high.  
Devon closed his eyes and yelled as he felt the palm came down hard over and over again on his rear. He struggled against him, but he couldn't get away. He had no choice, he bit the Count's leg.  
"Ow!" Yelled Count Spankulot as he let go of Devon and stood up.  
Devon fell at the Count's feet and laid there holding his rear. He didn't remember the spankings being this bad, it must have been the fact that the glove was removed.  
The Count had his hand on his thigh, he lifted it and saw that his trousers were ripped. "No matter, you will soon be a spank happy vampire and we will spank naughty childrens forever!" He let out a laugh.  
Devon felt a power move through him, it felt like it was trying to take over. Suddenly as soon as the foreign power appeared, it felt and was replaced with his own, primal power. He looked up at the vampire and growled like a dog. "I am... Immune to your ungloved hand... Spankulot..."  
"How?" Asked the Count.  
"You know all those times you... Spanked me? You punished me for being... What I am!..." Devon said as his body began to change. He grew bigger, a bit more muscular, furrier, he grew a wolf-like tail, wolf ears, paws, snout, he had light brown fur, dark brown eyes. "A dog didn't eat my brother's homework..." He stood up on his hind legs and looked at the Count. "I did!" He said with jaws full of sharp teeth.


	3. Chapter 3

Count Spankulot couldn't believe what was standing in front of him at this very moment. He backed up a bit at the sight of the beast's row of teeth.  
Devon looked at the Count, he was almost his height, but he still had to look up a bit. "I don't want to hurt you, I'm on your side. We're both adults now, right?" He spoke as calmly as possible, he could sense the vampire's fear.  
"No! I do not want to be human! I do not want to die!" Said the Count in absolute terror.  
"What are you talking about?" Devon asked, horribly confused.  
Suddenly the Count flew at the weredog. Devon jumped out of the way, he landed on all fours, he looked toward the Count and saw that he flew out of the room. Devon's heart raced at the adrenaline pumping through him. He knew he must have stirred up some fear in the vampire for him to be reacting like this. He knew he wasn't welcomed here, he had to leave. He stood up on his hind legs and got his belongings. He was about to walk out of the room when he saw the Count appear floating in the doorway. Devon was about to speak to him, try to reason with the paranoid vampire, but he felt something horribly wrong. The pain was back again, the same pain he felt when he was in the same room with that cursed document.  
The Count looked at him menacingly. "You have been a bad dog!" He pulled the document out and held it up.  
Devon closed his eyes and yowled in agony, the stinging pain he had in his rear from the spanking increased ten fold and there was also pain all over his body. He backed away and opened his eyes, he looked for a way out and the only way out was out the window. Devon ran on all fours and jumped out the window. He ran toward one of the walls surrounding the castle, he stopped when he got to it, he took out his staff and aimed at a statue of a gloved hand on top of the wall. He shot the collar at the hand and it got around a finger. He pressed a button and the leash began to hoist him up the wall, he kept a good grip on the staff as not to fall. He couldn't believe this was happening, he helped the man despite being punished by him for so many years and this is the thanks he got?!  
He got to the top of the wall and hoisted himself up onto it, taking the collar off the statue he retracted the rest of the leash into his staff. Suddenly something flew overhead. Devon looked up and saw a C.O.O.L.B.U.S, with 'KND' painted sloppily on the side of it, flying to the castle.

Count Spankulot rolled up the document like a scroll and stuck it in his pocket. He put his glove back on, but he didn't take his eyes off the damage that mutt caused. The window and one of his family heirlooms were broken, he'd make that mutt pay for that with double, no, triple the spankings! Just thinking about it made him smile. Although he realized he'd have to spend a portion of the next night cleaning up after that dog, maybe four times the spankings will be enough punishment for him.  
The Count suddenly flinched as he heard an explosion and saw debris fall from the ceiling. Four children jumped down through the roof and surrounded the Count. They were wearing crudely put together armor made of knee pads, elbow pads, helmets, cardboard strapped around their torsos with their respective numbers, 70-73, on them and they had pillows tied to their rears. There were two boys and two girls in the group. One of the boys was Kevin, who was looking very timid to be standing near the Count.  
Count Spankulot looked down at the children with anger. "What is the meaning of this!? Breaking into my castle and destroying my ceiling is not good behavior!" He started to float in the air. "Prepare to feel the stingy wrath of Count Spankulot!"  
The four kids suddenly pulled out weapons, they were gun-like. The KND operatives began shooting.  
The Count screamed and landed back down on the floor, he was being pelted with garlic. He soon fell to the floor and curled up to protect himself. He felt garlic pelting him all over his body, even if they just hit his clothes he was still in pain. The Count soon passed out from the garlic.  
The kids suddenly stopped shooting as another kid fell through the hole in the ceiling. It was their 2x4 tech expert and pilot, Number 74.  
The other four operatives ran to him, frantically asking if he was alright.  
The kid was shaken, but otherwise alright. He sat up and looked at his teammates with fear. "M-m-m... A monster dog has taken over the C.O.O.L.B.U.S!"  
"Oh, no. It's my brother. I thought I heard him say something about living with Count Spankulot the other night." Said Kevin in a worried tone.  
"And you just now mention that your crazy homework eating weredog brother is living with an equally crazy spank happy vampire, Number 73?!" Asked Number 70 in disbelief that he would hold back such information, they weren't prepared for a fight with a weredog.  
"I'm sorry Number 70, sir." Number 73 said, timidly.  
There was an explosion heard outside in the distance.  
"What was that?!" Asked Number 70.  
"I think that was the C.O.O.L.B.U.S exploding, sir." Number 74 said.  
Devon suddenly jumped through the hole in the ceiling.  
Four of the operatives pointed their weapons at him while Number 74 hid behind them as he was unarmed.  
"Hi doggy!" Said Number 71, waving with excitement, she then got back to aiming at him.  
Devon looked down at the kids. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Number 74's grade could be in jeopardy." He said, holding a few papers in his hand.  
Number 74 looked out from behind his friends. "No! That's my super duper important report!" He ran out from behind his teammates and knelt down in front of the weredog. "Please, that's worth 99.9% of my grade. Like a kagillion points!" He begged.  
"Kagillion is not a real number! Thank goodness I'm not threatening to eat your math homework..." Devon replied looking down at the kid. He suddenly grabbed him by his shirt collar and lifted him with no effort. "If you want your report back then I suggest you leave!" Devon said as he tossed him away.  
Number 74 landed on his back, sliding some distance on the tile.  
"We're not gonna be bullied by some mangy, filthy, flea ridden mutt!" Said Number 72 as she ran at Devon and jumped kicked him, sending him flying into the nearby coffin.  
The lid to the coffin closed, trapping the weredog inside.  
"Hold the lid closed!" Ordered Number 70 as he and everyone except Number 74 ran to the coffin and held it shut.  
Devon snarled and tried to get out, banging and pushing on the lid.  
"Number 74!" Number 73 called out.  
Number 74 sat up, dazed, but looked at his teammate.  
"Weredogs are weak against incorrect homework! You gotta make some changes to your report!" Number 73 said, pressing down on the lid with all his might.  
"What!? Are you crazy?! I spent my weekend on that thing!" Number 74 objected.  
"Forget about your stupid homework! This mutt is strong!" Number 72 said.  
The lid was bobbing as Devon continued to try to force it open. He was growling and barking like mad.  
Number 74 stood up and looked around for his scattered papers. But noticed a paper sticking out of Count Spankulot's pocket. He got an idea, he could use that to write some incorrect things to fight against Devon, instead of messing up his own report. He ran over to the Count and slowly reached for the paper. His arm was suddenly grabbed by the Count's gloved hand. Number 74 shrieked in terror and tried to pull away. "Wait, wait, wait, wait! I'm an honor student, you shouldn't spank me!" He said, he looked around, trying to find something that would help him as the Count started to stand up. Number 74 picked up a large chunk of garlic and pressed it up against the Count's nose, making the vampire let go and fainted. "Phew!" Said Number 74 in relief. He grabbed the paper from the vampire's pocket and unrolled it, taking a moment to read it.  
"Number 74, what's taking so lo-" Number 70 began to ask until the lid of the coffin suddenly flew off its hinges, knocking all four of the kids away.  
Devon stood up, snarling and looking mad as ever.  
Number 74 quickly crumbled up the paper into a ball and took out his slingshot from his pocket. He aimed at Devon. "Hey, dog!" He called.  
Devon looked at him.  
"Eat this!" Number 74 shot the paper at Devon.  
It went into his mouth and down his throat. Devon grabbed his throat and tried to spit out the poisonous item, but it was no use. He soon blacked out and fell limply back into the coffin.  
Count Spankulot woke up a few minutes later, his entire body ached. He looked around, no sign of the kids. He saw a limp Devon in the coffin.


	4. Chapter 4

Devon suddenly woke up, his senses were dulled, the first thing he noticed happening was that he was expelling the poisonous incorrect paper from his throat. He spat it out and coughed several times. After his coughing ceased he then noticed he was laying across someone's lap and his rear was being quickly but lightly smacked. He felt no pain, he even felt former pain leave him, but his instinct was to get away and he started to struggle weakly. A hand held him down.  
"Hey, easy!" Said Count Spankulot's voice as he stopped.  
Devon stopped struggling. He looked at the vampire. "What are you doing?"  
"Healing you of course. I am administering healing swats to your backside. I saved your life, just like you saved mine." Said the Count as he took him off his lap and stood him up. He stood up as well.  
"You can heal with your spankings?" Devon asked.  
"Yes, there is a lot you do not know yet." Replied Count Spankulot.  
"Thank you for saving my life, Count." Devon said.  
"You are welcome, Devon. And..." The Count lifted his hand.  
Devon flinched and closed his eyes. He opened them again when he felt his head being petted.  
"You are a good dog." Said the Count.  
"Does that mean I can live here?" Devon asked, his tail wagging slightly because of the petting.  
"Yes." Said the Count, stopping the petting. "And you do not have to stay in the guest room, you can stay in my room with me. I can sleep on the ceiling and you can take my coffin." Said the Count, he put an arm around Devon and put his hand on his shoulder. "It will be just like a sleepover, except it will be every day and I won't have to threaten you with a spanking because you did not invite me in the first place."  
Devon smiled at him. "Yes, I sort of know how it feels. Sometimes I wouldn't get invited to sleepovers because I would eat the host's homework... And shoes... And almost their cat..."  
"Come, my canine companion. Let us retire to our room, I can see daybreak approaching." Said Count Spankulot, leading him out of the room.  
"I left my stuff outside when I came to save you." Said Devon.  
"Very well. Fetch your belongings, I will be waiting in the hallway." Said the Count, walking into the hall.  
Devon went out the window again and went to the wall where he left his things. He came back into the castle with his stuff and met the Count in the hallway. He followed the Count down the hallway and into a large room. The room was fairly barren except for a bunch of portraits of different vampires on the walls, a large set of windows covered by thick, black curtains, a large wardrobe and a decorative coffin that was standing upright against the wall.  
"Let us get some sleep. I know you are a day creature so I will warn you this once, unless you want to be walking with a sore bottom for a day do not wake me until the sun sets." Count Spankulot said.  
"Noted..." Devon said, making a mental note of that.  
"Good. Good morning." Said the Count, flying up to the ceiling and hanging upside down.  
Devon put his stuff down and opened up his duffle bag, he took out a shrink ray, a shrunken dog bed, pillow and blanket. He put the bed, pillow and blanket on the floor and flipped the reverse switch on his shrink ray. He blasted the items and they grew back to their normal sizes. Devon put his shrink ray back into his bag and made his bed, he laid down in the bed and covered himself with the blanket. He was laying there for a while staring up at the Count who was hanging from the ceiling sleeping peacefully. He was contemplating why he was even working with him, it seemed unusual. He could have just gone and worked for Father again, even though his children freaked him out. With Devon's expansive knowledge of the KND he was invaluable to the high ranking villain, but as Father told him when he turned 18, he'll call him when he needs him. Devon just guessed Father just got enough use out of him for now. For now he was living in a castle working with ,or for, a Count as his bodyguard, or guard dog. Devon could say that this was a step up, Father never offered him room and board in his mansion and now he was living in an ancient castle. Albeit he was now living with a vampire that has been spanking him ever since he was five years old and first chewed up his dad's dress shoes as a pup. He felt he could deal with the Count, despite his dominating nature, and who knows maybe they'll end up being the best of friends, they already work great as a team together and that is rare for first time teammates.  
Even when Devon was in the KND he had a hard time working with his teammates at first, who were coincidentally all weredogs. But after they established who the smartest one is, as is tradition in the weredog pack order, they had structure and an alpha. Being the son of a teacher and an engineer does have its advantages, Devon was not only his team's tech specialist, but he was also their leader.  
He hoped he could put his brain to work too and not just his brawn like Count Spankulot hired him to do. He'd start after a few more hours of sleep.

A few hours later Count Spankulot woke up, it was sunset. It was time to hunt and punish naughty childrens. He flew down from the ceiling and landed in front of the wardrobe, when he opened the wardrobe he found it filled with Devon's clothes. His own clothes were pushed to the back, the Count felt greatly disrespected at this gesture. He grabbed a pair of new pants and changed out of his torn ones.  
The Count turned around and saw what Devon had done to the room. Among the beautiful self portraits of his ancestors were the gaudy posters of bands, scientists and math professors. This made him even more angry, how dare that dog even think that those humans can ever equate to the great vampires of the past? He looked around again and found an electric guitar sitting in the corner. "Devon is a musician?" He asked himself. Well he knew one thing, Devon won't be practicing during the day when the Count's trying to sleep, that's for sure. Count Spankulot started to walk out of the room but stopped when he stepped on something that squeaked. He looked down, picked up his foot and found a chewed up dog toy shaped like a rolled up newspaper, except the word 'homework' was on it instead of 'newspaper'. He moved the toy aside with his foot and walked out of the room, he dreaded to see what Devon had done to the rest of his castle. The hallway seemed normal, that was a relief. He walked down the hallway and into the guest room, to his surprise it was all clean and everything was fixed, even the giant hole in the ceiling. Perhaps the Count had misjudged the weredog. He disappeared and reappeared in the kitchen, he saw that Devon was in the kitchen cooking something, luckily back in his human form.  
The kitchen was a modern one, the Count's castle may have been old, but he adapted to the changing times and he had actual technology in it like a fridge, a stove and smaller appliances.  
"Good evening, Count." Devon said, turning his head to the Count as he stirred in the pot on the stove.  
Judging by the smell Count Spankulot concluded that Devon was cooking some sort of soup. "Good evening." Replied the Count casually.  
"I hope you don't mind that I used your kitchen to cook something. Can't go out bringing justice to bad children on an empty stomach." Devon said, taking the pot off the stove.  
"No, I do not mind." Said the Count. The mere fact that the weredog was cooking for him softened the Count's earlier anger, especially since the soup smelled like his mother's cooking. Perhaps he won't punish Devon for putting those posters on his walls or putting his own clothes at the front of the closet. Or perhaps he'll give him a few more spankings when he messes up next time, justice is justice.  
Devon poured some soup into a large bowl and put it on the kitchen table, along with a spoon and napkin.  
The Count sat down and ate a spoonful of soup. He looked at Devon, smiling. "This even tastes like mother's soup."  
"Yeah, I know. I used her recipe." Replied Devon as he put the pot of soup in the fridge. He sat down at the table as well.  
After another spoonful of soup the Count asked. "You are not eating?"  
"No, I already ate, I'm full." Devon replied.  
"I noticed you fixed the damage that was caused in the guest room last night." Said the Count.  
"Yes, thanks to the Fix-O-Matic. Developed by me and some other scientists while I was in the Kids Next Door. A little device that fixes any broken object." Devon said, proud of himself.  
The Count just continued eating, he hadn't tasted his mother's cooking in a long time or any homemade cooking, his work kept him very busy.  
After a few minutes, Devon asked. "I meant to ask you last night, but when I went weredog you said something about not wanting to be human again and not wanting to die, what was all that about?"  
Count Spankulot stopped eating and looked at him. "When the war was going on the weredogs took something from us, they stole a page from a spell book, made copies of it and ate it. That spell taught them to turn vampires back into humans again. The way a vampire can be turned back is by spanking the one that turned him or her. When the weredogs ate that page that power became theirs, they were able to cure vampires with their bites and a cured vampire can never be turned back. If a vampire has lived past the age of human mortality and he is then turned back..."  
"He dies?" Devon asked.  
"Yes..." Said the Count.  
"I can assure you that I didn't eat some page from a spell book. A weredog remembers what he eats." Devon reassured him.  
"Good." Replied the Count.  
"Tell me, were you part of that war?" Devon asked.  
"No, I was too young. But the adults liked to tell stories, I heard all about the war, never saw it as it was happening in a far away land." Said the Count.  
"Why the war? What started it?" Devon asked.  
"Weredogs are naturally greedy creatures, greedy for knowledge. They wanted to eat all the knowledge of the world. If all knowledge is taken by the weredogs then the rest of the world suffers, naughty childrens will never learn and our work will be for nothing." Replied the Count.  
Devon didn't say anything for a while. He knew what the Count said was true. Even he felt a insatiable hunger for knowledge, he could not deny that, but he always controlled himself as best as he could. He then spoke. "So you work to reform kids?"  
"Yes, fear is better than reward. Sometimes I fail, like you. You were one of my failures. You still pulled the same stuff when you were a kid." Count Spankulot said, disappointed in himself and Devon.  
"Well, I'm sorry for being part dog, but it's in my nature to do some of those things." Devon replied.  
"Just a warning, if you dig up my yard, maul the mailman, try to eat my neighbor's cat, chew on anything that belongs to me, eat any of my books or do those things to anyone else or do any other naughty things I will not spare my hand." Count Spankulot said in a stern voice.  
"Understood, sir." Devon said, a bit fearful as he looked into the Count's eyes.  
"Sir... I hardly hear that word from those that I know." Said the Count in a better mood. He stood up. "Come, our conversing made us late to hunt down the wrongdoers." Said the Count, grabbing Devon by the arm and yanking him out of his seat, pulling him close and enveloping both of them in his cloak before disappearing into a cloud of fog. They reappeared in another room, this room had nothing but a phone and an answering machine on a table.  
The Count gasped when he saw the state of the room, there were supposed to be stacks of papers filled with addresses here, but there were none. Count Spankulot turned his attention to the smaller man. "What happen to all of the papers!?"  
"Oh, I ate them. This room was cluttered with papers. You're welcome." Devon said.  
The Count dropped to one knee, put Devon over his raised knee, secured him with one hand and began to ruthlessly spank him.  
Devon struggled against him. He blocked his rear with his hands.  
The Count grabbed his wrists and moved his hands out of the way, spanking him harder.  
"Wait, wait, wait! Ow! WAIT! Ow! I remembe- ow! I remember everything I- OW! Eat! Ah!" Devon said, he had tears in his eyes from the pain.  
The Count stopped. "What was that?" He asked, looking down at Devon.  
"I remember everything I eat..." Devon repeated, his voice a bit shaky.  
Count Spankulot stood him up, then stood himself up and let him go. "Sorry. I forgot."  
Devon rubbed his cheeks quickly. 'Of course you forgot...' He thought to himself.  
"Are you alright?" The Count asked.  
"Oh, well let's see, my butt is on fire, so no!" Devon replied with a raised voice.  
The Count grabbed his wrists again and moved his hands out of the way. He starts to spank Devon again, but they were light and painless.  
Devon struggled at first, but stopped as his rear stopped hurting. Soon the pain was completely gone.  
Count Spankulot let go of him.  
Devon looked up at him. "Thanks." He plainly said.  
"Let's go, I know whose houses to go to first. Those Kids Next Door who attacked me last night." Said the Count.  
"Sector V? But today is Friday, they'll most likely be in their tree house, which will most likely be armed. I say we wait until the weekdays then get them all individually in one night. It'll be safer that way." Devon suggested.  
"I've spanked them inside their tree house before." Replied the Count.  
"Don't you think they're expecting us? Surely they will expect a counter strike." Devon said.  
"Fine." Said the Count after a minute. "We will wait."  
"Good. I have to go get some things first before we head out for the night." Devon said, walking toward the doorway. He was grabbed and pulled back to the Count, they both disappeared in a cloud of fog and reappeared in their room. Devon was released.  
"You really gotta warn me before you do that." Devon complained, when he got no response he walked over to the wardrobe, got a tank top, removed his shirt and slipped the tank top on. "Armor ready." He said and dark grey plated light armor appeared on him from head to toe. He also got his staff. "Alright, I'm ready."  
The Count grabbed him again and disappeared with him. They reappeared in a neighborhood. Devon was released.  
Devon stopped himself from complaining again, lest he get another spanking.  
"What is our first bad seed I must spank?" Count Spankulot asked. He usually carried little slips of paper with the names and addresses of the children that he spanks for the night, but since Devon ate the original papers, he had nothing on him.  
"A little brat named Susie Carlton. Talked back to her parents. She should be on the second floor of the house, in her room grounded. She lives down that way." Devon said, pointing toward the street. "It is the very first house on 8th street."  
"Alright, let's do this." Said the Count. He made a grab for Devon again.  
Devon stepped back just out of his reach. "I can get there on my own, Count."  
"Very well, but keep up." Said Count Spankulot, flying up into the air.  
Devon clicked his heels together two times, jets came out of the soles of his boots and he shot off into the air, he followed the Count on his first mission of the night.


	5. Chapter 5

Ch. 5

Devon followed Count Spankulot to the house which was just a few streets over. He hovered near the Count as he stopped by a window and looked inside to see Susie, who was around 6, coloring something at her desk. It looked like a drawing done out of spite, it was of two stick figures with 'mommy and daddy are dumbly heads' written underneath.  
The Count made the window open, he dissolved into fog, the fog went into the room and he emerged from the fog again.  
Susie turned around in her seat, startled.  
"Little girls who speak rudely to their parents and who draw mean pictures shall feel the stingy wrath of Count Spankulot!" Said the Count, starting to laugh.  
Susie shrieked in fear and ran to her giant collection of stuffed animals, she grabbed one and tossed it at him.  
"Ow!" Said the Count as the plush toy hit him in the face. He raised an index finger at her and wagged it. "Now that was not very ni- ow!" Another toy hit him.  
Susie threw a barrage of stuffed animals at him. "Leave me alone!"  
The Count put an arm up to shield himself.  
Devon was still outside, he watched the spectacle and rolled his eyes. He flew into the room and landed near the Count. He aimed his staff at the child still pelting the vampire, fired the collar, the collar ensnared an arm, he pressed a button and then released it which pulled the leash back just enough to yank the frantic child to the floor.  
The Count walked over to the child, picked her up and carried her over to the bed. Susie protested the entire time and even insulted the Count.  
Devon made the collar let go, it retracted back to the staff and he then attached the staff to his back.  
Count Spankulot sat down on the bed, put the struggling child on his lap and held her down as she continued to call him names and struggle. "Those who are rude to their parents, pelt me with stuffed toys and call me names shall feel the stingy wrath of Count Spankulot! You have been bad!" Scolded the Count as he raised his hand high and started to administer swats.  
Devon turned his back to them as he didn't really like to see spankings, except in the case of his brother or his teammates. He started searching the room for any homework. Homework done by little kids was always the best as it was colorful, it was like dessert to him. He found some in the child's pink backpack. It was a spelling sheet with colored in pictures on it. He made sure the spelling was correct before crumbling up the paper and stuffing it into his mouth, chewing happily. Hunting for homework has never been this easy, no chasing or anything. He could get used to this.  
After giving the spoiled brat about 20 or so solid strikes, Count Spankulot let her go.  
Susie ran and hid inside her pile of stuffed animals, sobbing lightly.  
The Count stood up and looked at Devon. "Come, we are done here."  
Devon swallowed his treat before answering. "Coming." He followed him out the window.  
"Where to next?" The Count asked.  
"To Jimmy Stanson's house, just across the street. His parents are mad at him for getting a double F minus on his project." Devon said. He made a mental note not to eat anything from there.  
"Odd, I usually have to spank his rotten older brother, Billy." Said the Count.  
"Jimmy's normally the good one? Hard to believe when he's getting double F minuses on his projects, to me that deserves an extra bit of spanking." Devon said, crossing his arms.  
Count Spankulot nodded in agreement, smirking slightly and then flew to the house with Devon following right behind him. They both stopped at a window and peered in.  
Jimmy was a boy about 11 years old. He had thick glasses and nerdy looking hair. He was standing at a large chalk board in his room with a bunch of equations on it. His whole room looked as if a college classroom threw up on it, thick books lined his bookshelf, posters of math and science experts and diagrams lined his walls.  
Count Spankulot made the window open and flew in.  
"Count, wait, no!" Devon said, but it was too late.  
Jimmy looked at the Count, terrified and shaking.  
"Jimmy, those who do poorly on their schoolwork shall feel the hand of justice to their backside! Prepare to feel the paddlesome power of Count Spanku-" The Count started to say before being interrupted when Devon quickly got in between him and child.  
"Wait!" Devon said, outstretching his arms.  
"Devon, what are yo-? Get out of the way unless you want a spanking worse than him!" The Count threatened.  
"I don't think he got a poor grade, I mean look at his work here." Devon said, gesturing toward the chalk board. "This is the stuff I am working on in college. This kid is gifted."  
"What does this have to do with his poor grade?" Asked the Count.  
"My Neanderthal of an older brother snuck into my room and ruined my report on the history of math." Jimmy said, he pulled a few papers out from his backpack that was nearby. "This isn't even my penmanship." He said, showing the papers to them.  
Devon hissed as he saw the papers, he hid behind the Count and shut his eyes to get the image out of his head. "So sloppy... Bad grammar... Words with numbers... Bad... Inaccurate..." The weredog muttered, shaking slightly.  
"I know, right?! It's him you should be spanking, not me. He set me up." Jimmy said, tearing up the papers.  
Devon felt better when he heard the sound of paper ripping. He let out a sigh of relief.  
The Count looked at Devon.  
"Give him triple the spankings for that atrocious thing I had to look upon. Billy deserves not to sit right for a week!" Devon said.  
The Count smiled at him. "Now that's what I want to hear!" He then walked out of Jimmy's room.  
Jimmy followed because he wanted to watch his jerk of a brother get what he deserves.  
Devon followed, but stopped when he walked past the ripped pieces of paper that were once that abomination of a report. He stared at it with fear and disgust. "It deserves to die with fire..." He said and then ran out of the room, following after the Count.  
Loud music could be heard coming from Billy's room and there was a crudely drawn 'keep out!' sign on his door. Count Spankulot raised his hand, the music shut off.  
An angry Billy was heard on the other side. "Hey, what gives?!"  
The door flew open and the Count went in looking as menacing as possible as he floated a few inches above the floor.  
Billy was busy messing with the radio trying to fix it when his door flew open and he saw the Count float in. "Hey, Count dorkulot, my little snot nosed brother is down the hall!" Said the 16 year old teenager.  
"I have come for you, Billy." Said the Count.  
"Me? For what?" Asked Billy.  
"You have been bad! Those who frame their brother and make them get bad grades shall be punished!" Said the Count, going towards him.  
Billy jumped up in the air, did a backflip and landed on the other side of his bed. He got out a similar metal staff that Devon had from under his bed. He stood up. "Armor ready!" He shouted. Armor similar to Devon's appeared on Billy.  
Devon's eyes widened when he saw that Billy was a Teen Ninja as well.  
Billy leapt at the Count with his staff raised over his head.  
Devon quickly jumped in front of the Count and blocked Billy's staff with his own, preventing it from hitting the Count.  
The two kept the weapons connected, pushing against each other, trying to out muscle the other. Billy stood his ground but he was shocked to find another ninja protecting Count Spankulot of all villains. "What are you doing, man?! Let me clobber that vampire!" Billy said.  
"That is not a request that I am willing to grant!" Devon said, taking a step forward and pushing the teen back.  
Billy tried to stay grounded in his spot. "I had no idea you were a traitor, you're taking my brother's side! He's a nerd in the Kids Next Door! Father ordered me to sabotage his lame report and get him grounded so he can't do his sciencey thing for a long time." He said, pushing back.  
"Wow, you actually know some big words. And here I thought you wrote that report with the best of your knowledge. Father has his grounded scientist, he won. So what's the harm in letting the Count dispense some justice on you? You did a bad thing in his book." Devon said.  
"I was just following orders! And if you're smart you'll let me go!" Billy said.  
"Same here!" Devon quickly sidestepped him and jabbed him in the ribs with the end of his staff.  
Billy swung his staff at him.  
Devon blocked and tripped Billy, putting his staff on his chest to hold him there.  
Billy tried to reach for his own staff, but Devon kicked it away. Billy looked at the man standing above him with anger. He tripped Devon.  
Devon lost his balance and fell, before he knew what was happening Billy retrieved his staff, stood and was about to whack him in the head. All of a sudden Billy froze in place. Devon looked at Billy, the teenager had an odd, zombie-like look in his eyes. He looked at the Count.  
Count Spankulot had his hand outstretched toward Billy, he had an odd look in his eyes too. He dropped his hand.  
Billy dropped his staff and stood in a non fighting posture.  
"What did you do to him?" Devon asked the Count, sitting up.  
"I am using my evil hypnotic powers to control him." Answered the Count.  
"Armor off..." Muttered Billy. His armor disappeared.  
The Count walked over to the bed, sat down and motioned for Billy to come to him.  
Billy walked over to the vampire and laid across his lap.  
Count Spankulot held him down and snapped him out of his trance.  
"Hey, what the-!?" Billy asked, he looked up at the Count and silently cursed to himself.  
The Count raised his hand and started to spank him with quick and hard strikes.  
Billy struggled for the first half a minute, but quickly lost his will to fight. He screamed and complained the entire time.  
Devon stood up and brushed himself off, took his staff in hand again and attached it to his back. He then watched the rest of Billy's punishment with satisfaction.  
Jimmy watched too, but he was a bit squeamish with watching any form of violence and would cover his eyes from time to time.  
Count Spankulot stopped after he was satisfied and stood him up.  
Billy rubbed his stinging rump and tried to hide the fact that he had tears in his eyes.  
"Let's go to our next house." Said the Count, he disappeared and reappeared outside, he was floating near Billy's window and tapped on the window so Devon knew where he was.  
Devon looked at the Count and put up an index finger to let him know he'll be a minute. He turned towards Jimmy. "You must be working on something big that Father would want to impede your progress." He said, crossing his arms.  
"Uh... Nope, it's absolutely useless. Stupid kids stuff, you know?" Said Jimmy, laughing nervously.  
Devon suddenly grabbed him by his shirt and picked him up. "Tell me, or else!" He threatened, changing into his weredog form. He growled at the child.  
Jimmy looked away and closed his eyes, trembling with fear. "Ok, ok, ok! I'll tell you! It's called the Chore-Doer 9000. It's a device that lets kids do their chores with just the push of a button."  
"It would free kids to go on missions or go play instead of spending hours doing chores. Ingenious... Where is it being developed!?" Devon asked.  
"I can't tell you! I am sworn to extra super secrecy." Jimmy said.  
Devon held him by the back of the shirt and carried him back to his room. He started sniffing around. He went over to Jimmy's backpack and pulled a bunch of papers out of it. He smelled them. "Ahhh, so much better than the first set..." Devon said.  
"What are you doing!? Please, those are my reports from my history, chemistry and physics honor classes!" Jimmy said.  
"If you want these not to be in my stomach in the next five seconds you'll tell me where this device is!" Devon said. When Jimmy didn't answer he stuck half the papers in his mouth.  
"The science lab! It's in the deep sea science lab! Now please, give me back my homework!" Jimmy pleaded.  
Devon bit down on the papers and tore them in half. He dropped Jimmy and the other half of the papers and walked towards the window, he turned back into a human and looked back at Jimmy. "Thanks kid, I'll be sure to give Father your regards. Oh and good luck with school on Monday." Devon said as he laughed and flew out the window.  
The Count appeared near Devon. "That was more than a minute. What were you doing in there?"  
"Getting some information from Jimmy." Devon said.  
"Who's my next victim?" Count Spankulot asked, not a bit interested in what Devon learned.  
"There's two of them this time, Henry and George. They like to stay out late and play at the local park." Devon answered.  
"Yes, I know those two. Spanked them just last week for the same thing, they just never learn." Said the Count.  
They flew towards the park, the first few minutes of the trip was quiet until they heard some commotion going on. There was a kid TPing a house. The kid was laughing as he threw roll after roll of toilet paper on the roof.  
The Count flew down to him and grabbed him. "Those who vandalize someone's home with toilet paper shall feel the power of my palm!" He dropped to a knee, put the child over his knee and started to spank him.  
The kid was kicking and crying.  
After about 30 hits, Count Spankulot stood, let him go and watched as he ran off. The Count turned toward the house and lifted his hand. All the toilet paper floated off the house and bunched up together. He then outstretched his other hand to a garbage can, the garbage can floated over to the ball of toilet paper and opened up. The ball went into the garbage can and the lid closed. Count Spankulot lowered the garbage can to the lawn and flew back up. "I like surprises like that." He said to Devon.  
"Does that happen often?" Devon asked.  
"Yes, actually. These naughty childrens never learn." Said the Count. He and Devon started to fly away toward the park. They arrived at the park where they saw two boys around 12 years old playing on the playground. They were swinging on the swing sets and didn't notice the two adults flying right above them. One of the boys jumped off the swing set when he swung high. Count Spankulot swooped down and caught him. "They who do not heed to their curfew must be punished! Prepare to feel the power of my palm!" Said the Count as he landed, got down on one knee, placed the child over his knee and began to spank him while laughing maniacally.  
The other child started to run. Devon saw him and flew after him. He landed in front of him, as he landed he transformed into his weredog form. The child stopped in his tracks and backed away. Devon walked towards him on all fours, growling. The child picked up a stick and threw it, the stick missed Devon.  
Devon looked at where the stick went, wagged his tail and barked happily before he ran after it. He grabbed it with his jaws and ran back to where the child was. The child was gone and Count Spankulot was standing there, arms crossed and looking at Devon with a displeased glare. Devon sunk low to the ground and whimpered slightly. He dropped the stick he was holding.  
Count Spankulot sighed and flew over to a bush. He reached in and pulled out the scared child that Devon had let escape.  
The child was shaking and had tears in his eyes. "Please, Mr. Spankulot, I won't ever stay out past curfew again. I swear!"  
"That's what you told me a week ago! I am not buying it, George." Count Spankulot said, taking a knee, putting George over and spanking him. After about a minute he let him go and watched as George and Henry ran out of the park. The Count stood and walked over to Devon.  
The weredog didn't move from his spot and stayed low to the ground, behaving like a guilty dog.  
The Count made the stick float in the air and grabbed it. He looked at it. "A stick... You let that naughty misbehaving boy go because of a stick?"  
"To be fair... He threw it..." Devon said.  
"You'd rather play fetch with my victims than do your duty?!" Asked the Count, looking at the weredog.  
"I am part dog, I can't help myself sometimes." Devon replied, a bit more bolder.  
The Count sighed, threw the stick up into the air and slapped it away.  
Devon watched as the stick flew farther than George had thrown it before. He got excited and turned to run after it. He was grabbed by the tail and let out a yelp as he was yanked back and fell.  
"Stay!" The Count commanded. He raised Devon's hindquarters up and delivered a quick, solid, hard smack across his behind. "Bad dog!" Count Spankulot scolded.  
Devon yelped in pain, shutting his eyes and gritting his teeth as if awaiting more.  
The Count let go of him. "Come. I have more naughty childrens to punish. Now who is next on the list?" He simply asked.  
Devon stood up and looked back at the Count. He was a bit shaken and his behind stung a bit, but he was alright to continue. He turned back into his human form and stood up on his hind legs. "Last one of the night. This time we have a slumber party to crash. These four girls were making fun of another girl behind her back, she used to go to the slumber parties until she heard what they were saying."  
"Ah, yes, little Cindy. She was the one who actually called me to punish those naughty gossipers. It is rare that childrens call me to spank other childrens. Let's go put a stop to their gossiping." Count Spankulot said as he flew up in the sky.  
Devon activated his jet boots again and followed him.  
"Where to?" Asked the Count.  
"To Jane Duncan's house." Answered Devon, he was about to give the address.  
"I know where that is, I have to spank that snooty girl on a regular basis." Said the Count, interrupting him.  
Devon sighed. He questioned why it was alright for the Count to be rude and interrupt, but when he did anything to upset his uptight heinieness he'll pay dearly for it... Devon had to remember that this vampire has lived through a war with weredogs and perhaps still feels prejudice against them. He ate far too many papers on war veteran's lives to dismiss the Count's feelings. And he knew the Count had the need to correct bad behavior, just like a weredog has the need to eat homework. He understood that more than ever. Devon guessed he'll just have to deal with him, maybe he'll soften up after they got to know each other a bit better...  
Within a half an hour they arrived at a house and hovered near the window, they peered in and saw four girls about 10 or 11 years old. They were watching a movie together.  
The Count outstretched his hand, the TV shut off and the window was flung open. The room got dark and filled with dark fog. The Count disappeared and reappeared in the fog. He looked down at the terrified girls. "Those who gossip about their friend and make her feel bad will feel the hand of justice! Prepare to feel the wrath of Count Spankulot!" He said as he started to laugh.  
The girls screamed and started to run. The Count caught one and sat down on the bed, put her over his lap and spanked her.  
Devon landed in the room and went after the other girls. They were going down the stairs. Devon jumped from the second floor and landed right at the edge of the stairs. The girls stopped in the middle of the stairs.  
"You are taking your punishment for making fun of your friend!" Devon said, looking at them. He suddenly turned his head when he heard a meow and saw a cat laying on the couch. He turned towards the feline and growled, his eyes turned red. The cat hissed and made itself look bigger. Devon turned into his weredog form and barked at the cat. It escaped out a doggy door. Devon ran after it on all fours, he broke the door down, continuing the chase and barking like crazy.  
The Count eventually found and punished every guilty child accordingly. But he couldn't find Devon anywhere in the house and he wished someone would shut that barking dog up! Wait... The Count appeared in the front yard and saw Devon barking at a cat in a tree. "DEVON!" Scolded Count Spankulot.  
Devon stopped what he was doing and looked at the Count with ears flattened, body low to the ground and tail between his legs.  
"Come here!" Commanded the Count.  
Devon walked over to him slowly and looked up at him.  
"I had to find those childrens myself! One of them could have been a Kids Next Door operative and got a weapon loaded with garlic and shot me with it. And you are out here chasing cats!? And was that you who broke the door down? That is coming out of your paycheck!" Said the Count.  
"Wait, I get paid?" Devon asked. He suddenly found himself over the Count's knee.  
"That is not the point!" The Count said, giving him a hard spank with every word he said.  
Devon yelped with every strike he felt. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry... At least I stalled them."  
"Stalled for a few seconds! A few of them were running down the street when I find them!" The Count said, while continuing to spank him.  
"The... Ah!... Correct... Ouch!... Word is... 'Found'... AH!" Devon corrected. Tears were welling up in his eyes because of the pain.  
"Câine rău!" Said the Count, spanking him harder.  
Devon tried to make out what he said, the language sounded Latin and he was sure the word 'câine' resembled 'canis' which was the Latin word for 'dog'. Oh, forget translation for now, his butt felt like it was on fire!  
A minute of painful spanking later and it was over. The Count stopped his rage filled assault. Devon just laid there trying not to sob too loudly, he didn't want to give the vampire the satisfaction of knowing that he was crying.  
"Let the achiness of your bottom be a reminder to do your duty!" Said the Count, standing up, letting Devon fall off his knee and onto the lawn.  
The cat climbed out of the tree, walked over Devon and up to the Count, it purred and rubbed against his legs before walking into the house again.  
Devon was grabbed by the scruff of the neck and picked up by the Count. They both disappeared and reappeared in the Count's room. Devon was dropped on top of his dog bed. "Your slate has been marked clean by my just hand, I do not hold grudges. But you will be living with that sting for the rest of the night. First thing in the morning you will go to the Duncan's house and use that fixer gadget of yours to fix their door, is that understood?" Asked the Count.  
"... Crystal clear..." Devon said.  
"Good. Throughout the day you will stay by the phone and listen for calls. Write them down and eat them so you can remember. Childrens are usually naughtier on weekends, so there will be a lot of them. And one last thing, heat up that soup and have a bowl ready for me near sundown." Commanded the Count.  
"Yes, sir." Devon replied.  
"Good." Said the Count as he vanished, going out to patrol for more naughty kids.  
Devon just laid there on his bed, luckily the Count had the decency to drop him on his stomach and on something soft. He wasn't mad at the Count, he knew he did wrong by getting distracted by a cat and a stick. He had to get better at controlling himself. He knew the Count was right. He'll make it up to him. He will be better...


	6. Chapter 6

Ch. 6

The rest of the night went by slowly, Devon couldn't sleep because of the constant stinging on his backside. When the pain finally left him and allowed him to sleep it was nearing sunrise. He awoke late in the morning and looked up to find the Count asleep on the ceiling. Devon got out of bed, turned back into his human form, changed his clothes, put his staff away in the wardrobe and went out of the room to start his work for the day. After a nice breakfast of the last bit of Rainbow Munchies cereal with milk, he went back to his room, got his Fix-O-Matic from his backpack and walked out of the castle. He went to the courtyard where he had his flying motorcycle, courtesy of his days as a Teen Ninja working for Father, parked. He put on his black helmet that was sitting on the bike and got on the bike. He turned it on and the bike's wheels turned into two jets and it began to hover off the ground. He floored it and flew it over the castle wall. While he flew towards the Duncan house, he couldn't help but open his mouth and stick his tongue out, it would be a bit better if he was in weredog form, but this felt good too. He got there within 45 minutes. He landed his bike on the lawn, as he got off and removed his helmet he saw two adults, a man and a woman, standing near the front door, or what used to be the front door. "Mr. and Mrs. Duncan?" Devon asked as he walked up to them.  
"Yes?" Mr. Duncan asked as he turned to him.  
"Hello, sir. I am with Count Spankulot, I'm his bodyguard." Devon said professionally, offering a hand.  
The man shook it. "Ah, yes. Jane told us what happen. She admitted to making fun of Cindy. We've grounded her for a week and we're taking her over to Cindy's so she can apologize."  
"But she did not explain what happen to the door. It has big claw marks on it, as if some animal tore it down." Mrs. Duncan said.  
"Yes, ma'am. Well, that was my fault." Devon said, looking at her.  
"How did you-?" Mrs. Duncan began to ask.  
"But I can fix it." Devon said, taking out a remote-like device made out of wood with one red button and an antenna on it. He aimed at the door and pressed a button. A laser fired from the antenna and struck the door. The door floated and fixed itself on its hinges again, the claw marks vanished and it was completely fixed. Devon put the Fix-O-Matic away. "Alright, well sorry for the door again. Be sure to teach that kid right and help her with her homework, got to run." He went back to his bike, put his helmet on, got on the bike, turned it on and flew away before they could ask any more questions. He knew that was considered rude, interrupting an elder and then flying away, but he hoped they wouldn't call in to complain, he did fix their door after all. He just didn't want to answer questions that could lead to anyone discovering what he was, the truth can never be known.  
He returned to the castle and parked in the courtyard. He got off his bike, put his helmet back on the bike and went into the castle to start working on hearing calls from desperate parents and guardians too lazy to properly punish their own kids. He went into the room, with presumably the only telephone in the castle, and saw there was a fresh pile of papers, a chair and a book sitting on the chair. Devon walked over to the book and saw there was a sticky note on it. He picked up the note and read it: 'This is the book of rules childrens must follow. You are not to eat the pages of this book! If you do you shall feel the sting of a thousand palms!' Devon sighed and shook his head. "Always with the threats, aren't you?" He decided to eat the note so he could remember not to eat the book, such a big book filled with knowledge was tempting, he had gotten in trouble many times for eating his school books. He saw a pencil on the table, he grabbed it and fixed the Count's note. He didn't want to die over the word 'childrens'. He stuffed the note into his mouth and began to chew. It tasted bad and somewhat hot and spicy. He quickly swallowed it. He grabbed a clean paper and covered it in math equations, chemical formulas and large words. He ate the paper. It had washed out the bad taste in his mouth and tasted like a well-seasoned steak with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables. Devon picked up the book, sat down in the chair and began to read. There were obvious rules that children needed to follow like no running in the house, playing ball in the house, talking back to parents, being mean to siblings/other kids, lying, disobeying parents, littering, having an overdue library book, not paying library fines, damaging a library book, being loud in the library, not obeying the rules at a pool, not obeying the rules at a school, egging and TPing someone's house, damaging/stealing someone's property, ect. There were prices listed next to each rule, he guessed that's what parents have to pay in exchange for punishing their kids. He put the book down on the table and picked up the phone. He began to listen to the numerous messages left on the answering machine. They were messages asking for punishments for all sorts of things like breaking windows, being late to class because of goofing off, keeping an overdue library book, putting gum under tables and in other's hair, talking back to parents/guardians. He wrote down the information that the callers gave him. He filled up the front and the back of at least two papers with just the messages from last night and this morning alone. He then ate the papers, he had to admit his tasted better than what he had eaten yesterday, mainly because his papers didn't have eraser marks all over then like the Count's.  
The phone then rang, Devon answered it. "Hello, this is Count Spankulot's residence, Devon speaking. How may I help you?" He spoke professionally.  
"Hello, my son James was caught ditching school and no matter how much we ground him he never learns." Said the woman on the other end.  
"Yes, ditching. I'm sure the Count can do something about that." Devon said.  
"Good. Our address is..." She told him the address.  
Devon wrote it down on a fresh sheet of paper. "Alright, got it."  
"Good. James is grounded for a month, he won't be going anywhere. If Count Spankulot could come sometime soon." Inquired the woman.  
"Yes, I'm sure the Count could come sometime this weekend. And as always it'll be at night. That will be $10." Devon said.  
"I will mail a check." Said the woman.  
"Good, we'll teach your son a lesson he won't forget, don't worry, he'll be back in school before you know it." Devon said.  
"Thank you so much. Have a nice day." Said the woman as she hung up.  
Devon hung up as well and waited for the next call. Within minutes the phone rang and he picked it up. "Hello, this is Count Spankulot's residence, Devon speaking. How may I help you today?"  
"Hello, yes, the neighbor kids keep running on my lawn even though I've got a sign that says not to." Said the voice of an old man.  
"Not obeying a sign, that comes at a hefty price for the kids. The Count will be able to do something about it. Perhaps this weekend. That's $20, 10 for each kid." Devon said.  
"Alright, I'll mail the money." Said the old man.  
"Alright and what is your neighbor's address and the kid's names?" Asked Devon.  
"Their names are Brian and Patrick. The address is..." He told Devon the address.  
Devon wrote the information down. "Alright, good. Those kids won't be setting foot on your lawn again."  
"Good. Thank you." Said the man.  
"Have a nice day, sir." Said Devon as he hung up. After a few minutes the phone rang again and he picked it up. "Hello, Count Spankulot's residence, Devon speaking. How may I help you?"  
"Oh, so I see the Count finally has a secretary to answer his phone. Better than getting an answering machine." Said the voice of an old lady.  
"Yes, well, I was originally hired to be a bodyguard but I'm also a secretary, cook and personal assistant. Anyway, what's the problem?" Devon asked.  
"Some evil brat came into my yard and shaved one of my babies!" Said the lady.  
"You've got... Hairy babies...?" Devon asked, confused.  
"They're my cats, you idiot!" Corrected the lady.  
"Wait." Devon paused for a moment to try to stop a laugh, but it was audible. "So, you're telling me that a child came into your yard and shaved one of your cats?" He asked.  
"Yes! I want Count Spankulot to teach that brat a good lesson. I had to knit poor Princeton a sweater until his fur grows back..." Said the lady.  
Devon suddenly doubled over in laughter.  
"Hey, what's so funny?!" Asked the lady.  
Devon didn't answer as he continued laughing. He smacked the table a few times and started tearing up.  
"Stop laughing! This is not funny!" Scolded the lady.  
"It's absolutely hilarious! I broke a door down while chasing a cat up a tree last night, but that kid deserves props!" Devon said, holding his stomach as he continued laughing, he dropped the phone as well.  
"You did what!? Why would the Count hire a delinquent like you!?" Asked the lady.  
Devon continued laughing, paying no mind to the lady's rambling.  
There came a hiss from the lady. "Forget it! I'll handle this myself! Me and my darlings can infiltrate that child's home, get fur and hair balls everywhere, scratch up his furniture and knock all his things down. That'll teach him..."  
"That's the lamest revenge plan ever!" Devon replied, still laughing.  
"We'll also eat his fish, birds or small rodents if he has any." Said the lady.  
"Still lame." Devon answered, he continued his laughing. He suddenly stopped as he heard loud thunder and saw huge flashes of lightning from outside even with a thick black curtain covering the window. Black smoke filled the room and Count Spankulot emerged from the smoke, floating in front of him. He looked down at Devon who now looked fearful. Before Devon could move a muscle, he found himself picked up, put over the Count's knee and being spanked. With every couple of whacks there came an "Ow!" from Devon, he began to struggle. A strange paralysis then came over Devon's body and he couldn't move except for a frequent flinch.  
"You bad, bad dog! Who told you it was alright to laugh at clients in need!?" Asked the Count.  
"... No- Ah! One..." Devon said, all he could do was lay there and take the spanking.  
"Then why were you laughing? Especially at a fellow villain!?" Asked the Count.  
"Because... Ow! Her cat... Ow! Got shaved... Ow!" Devon said, feeling the palm strike even harder.  
"That is not funny!" Replied the Count, spanking him harder and faster.  
"I know that now!... I know that now!... Ow! Son of a-... OW!" Devon said, he was tearing up from the pain.  
Two minutes later it ended. Devon felt himself able to move again, not that he wanted to, his backside stung like Hell.  
The Count picked him up off his knee, but didn't bother to stand him up on his own feet, and let him go.  
Devon fell to the floor with a groan and moved his hands to rub the pain out of his posterior.  
Count Spankulot picked up the phone. "Hello?"  
"Yes, I'm still here, Spankulot." Said the cat lady.  
"I'm sorry about my rude assistant. He's a weredog and acts out sometimes." Count Spankulot said. He suddenly had to pull the phone away from his ear as a hiss came from the phone again.  
"Dogs... Why don't you hire my grandson? He's better than any mutt. That and he's so polite." Suggested the lady.  
"No, I think he should follow in your footsteps, not mine." Said the Count, it was clear he didn't like the idea.  
"Very well then, anyway will you do something about the kid who shaved my Princeton?" She asked.  
"Yes, of course. Who is he and where does he live?" Asked the Count.  
"I never really pay attention to my neighbors, but he lives right next door in the one story house." Replied the cat lady.  
"Alright, I know where that is. I have flown by your house before." Said the Count.  
"Good. And as usual I will have Maximilian deliver the money." Said the cat lady.  
"Alright, good, and don't worry none of your cats will ever be in danger so long as I prowl the night to deliver swift punishments to wrongdoers." Said the Count.  
"Purrrfect. And keep that dog on a leash." Said the cat lady, sharply.  
"I'll make sure he won't misbehave." Said the Count.  
"Good. Have a nice day now." She hung up the phone.  
The Count put the phone down and looked at Devon.  
Devon slowly stood up while continuing to rub his aching behind.  
"You will never laugh at anyone's calls, ever!" Commanded the Count.  
Devon nodded. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me..."  
"Do not let it happen again, or I will spank you twice as hard." The Count threatened.  
Devon nodded. "Yes, sir."  
"Good, now get back to work." Commanded the Count.  
"But, it hurts to sit down..." Devon said.  
"ACUMA!" Said the Count.  
"What?" Devon asked.  
"NOW!" Said the Count.  
Devon quickly sat in the chair. The chair had no cushion, it was just wood, so it wasn't really that comfortable especially with his stinging rump.  
The Count walked towards the exit of the room, he stopped and turned to look at Devon again. "If you see a black cat with an envelope DO NOT HURT HIM! He has my money."  
Devon nodded quickly.  
"Good, now do your job and don't wake me up again until sunset." The Count said and left the room.  
Devon shifted a bit in his seat, he was not at all comfortable. He stood up and rubbed his butt a bit more, easing the pain just a bit more. He grabbed a sheet of paper and wrote a phrase in a strange language on it. He crumbled it up and ate it. Within a few seconds he felt no more pain. "Ancient weredog spells sure do come in handy..." He said to himself as he sat back down and waited for the next call.  
Within a few minutes he got another call, he answered it. "Hello, this is Count Spankulot's residence. This is Devon, how may I help you?"  
"Yeah, my brother Gregory ate my homework!" Said the boy who was on the phone.  
"What?" Devon asked. Gregory was the name of one of his pack members when he was in the KND.  
"He's a homework eating weredog. He ate my homework, I saw him!" Said the boy.  
"No, no. He didn't. You kids have wild imaginations, you probably ate too much sugary cereal." Devon said.  
"But he did! He's a weredog! You gotta tell Count Spankulot to spank him, he won't get away with this!" Whined the boy.  
"I'm not telling the Count anything!" Devon said. He suddenly turned his head towards the door when he heard the sound of a throat clearing. He saw Count Spankulot in the doorway, glaring at him with his arms crossed. Devon gulped and turned his head away. "I mean, the Count will be there tonight. Don't worry." Devon said.  
"Great! I'll be ready with a month's allowance as payment. I can't wait. Our address is..." The boy told him the address.  
Devon wrote it down even though he already knew it. "Got it."  
"I can't wait to see his face! Bye." Said the boy excitedly as he hung up.  
Devon slowly put the phone down and turned to see the Count standing right next to him. "Hi..." Devon said, waving and grinning nervously.  
Count Spankulot grabbed him by the ear and yanked upwards.  
Devon stood up. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ear, ear, ear, ear..." He had to tilt his head a bit since his ear was being pulled up.  
The vampire sat down on the chair and yanked Devon over his lap by the ear. He let go and put a hand firmly on his back to hold him down.  
"Count, Count, wait. You don't understa-... Ah!" Devon was interrupted by a firm spank.  
"I understand perfectly. You. Never. Refuse. A. Call. EVER!" Said the Count as he gave him a few more firm spanks after almost every word.  
Devon let out a gasp of pain after every swat. He shut his eyes and grit his teeth.  
The Count's spanks became faster.  
Devon yelled a few times out of pain. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I won't... AH!... I won't do it again!"  
"That is right!" Count Spankulot said, not slowing down.  
Devon became teary eyed, his yells of pain became more frequent.  
It was about five minutes later when it finally stopped. Devon's face was soaked with tears and he was just lying there, sobbing.  
Count Spankulot looked at him. "I put a spell on you so that if you do anything naughty you shall feel my hand again, but it won't be my hand. It will last the rest of the day."  
Devon moved his hands to rub his aching bottom.  
The Count slapped them away. He grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him onto his feet. He stood as well. "No time for that! Sit!" He said, pushing Devon into the chair.  
"Ow!" Devon said as he landed hard in the chair.  
"Work." Said Count Spankulot sternly as he wagged his finger once at him.  
Devon nodded as he sniffled.  
"Be a good boy." Said the Count as he walked out of the room.  
Devon took out another fresh sheet of paper to write down the healing spell again, he double checked to see if the Count was gone before he scribbled it out. He was about to eat it when he felt a hard slap across his rear. "OW!" He yelled as he jumped up out of the seat. He rubbed his bottom and looked behind him, there was no one there. He realized that was what the Count meant by: "You shall feel my hand, but it won't be my hand." Devon put the paper down. If he couldn't heal himself then he'd have to wait it out. He'd have to take calls standing for now. Over the next few hours he got calls and wrote them down. When a page got full, he ate it, that was to be his lunch and dinner today, he knew that dessert would come soon enough. Although it would be bitter tonight because he knew he'd have to witness his friend get punished for doing what was natural for a weredog...  
Devon's thoughts got interrupted by the phone again. He answered it. "Hello, this is Count Spankulot's residence. Devon speaking, how may I help you?"  
"Hello, I went to my cousin, Fifi's, house last night and brought some homework with me. As soon as I finished it I went to the kitchen to get a snack, when I came back I saw her eating my homework! Can the Count do something?" Said the female caller.  
Devon stayed silent for a moment. He knew that it was the Fifi from his pack that she was talking about. He then blurted out. "N-... OUCH!" He yelled as he jumped a bit and held his rear with one hand. The invisible hand had struck him again.  
"Nouch?" Asked the caller.  
"I mean not a problem. What's the address?" Devon asked. He wrote down the address and ended the call. He silently cursed to himself, it had happen again. He had to let the Count punish yet another of his pack members. Perhaps if he got rid of the paper he wrote the addresses on he wouldn't have to tell the Count about those. He picked up the paper with the intent to tear it up. "OW!" He jumped again, feeling the hand smack him on the bottom. He growled with anger. "Son of a-... Ow!" The hand smacked him again, this time harder. "I was about to say gun, you stupid spell!" He said rubbing his stinging behind. He had to leave the paper as it was, he knew he could do nothing for his pack members. He hoped it wouldn't be too bad for them or that he didn't have to defend the Count from them.  
The phone rang again, Devon picked it up. "Hello? This is Count Spankulot's residence. This is Devon speaking, how may I help you?"  
"My older brother, Jose stole my homework. I want Count Spankulot to teach him a lesson!" Said the voice of a little girl.  
"Have you tried getting the homework back yourself?" Devon asked, trying to protect another pack member.  
"Yeah, but he locked the door." Answered the girl.  
"Alright, what's your address?" Devon asked. He wrote down the address when she told him.  
"I'll have a piggy bank of money waiting at the entrance to my room. Just get the Count to come here soon." Said the girl as she hung up.  
Devon hung up as well. He couldn't believe he had to let the Count punish nearly all his friends for doing what they needed to do... Perhaps he could reason with the Count? No, that was practically impossible. Justice was blind, but the Count's justice was both blind and deaf. Maybe he could call his friends in advance to warn them? "OW!" He jumped again as the invisible hand struck him. He growled with anger and silently cursed. He picked up the phone and tried to dial. He suddenly dropped the phone as he knocked forward when the invisible hand smacked him again with some weight on it this time, he had to make a grab for the table so he wouldn't fall on his face. "Mother-... OW!" Devon was slapped again. "I was going to say 'trucker'!" He slowly stood up straight and rubbed his rear. He realized it was hopeless, he couldn't protect his friends this time. It was always a tragedy when a pack leader can't protect his pack.  
Devon picked up the phone and put it back in its place, he looked at the time and saw it was nearing sundown. He had to eat the rest of the addresses and reheat that soup for the Count. He bitterly ate the papers he had written on and trudged into the kitchen to prepare food for the Count.  
A half hour later Count Spankulot appeared in the kitchen dining area, he saw Devon standing by a chair with a bowl of soup on the table. "Good evening." The Count greeted.  
"Evening." Devon said in an emotionless tone.  
The Count looked at the bowl of soup, slightly dissatisfied and not really in the mood for soup. "I think I want cereal tonight."  
Devon's jaw dropped, he wanted to tell the Count that he had to reheat that bowl 3 times! But he kept his mouth shut. "Bad news, Count. I ate the last of the cereal this morning..." He said, a bit fearfully. He didn't know if the Count will go into a rage and spank him.  
The vampire sighed. "Very well, you did take the liberty to cook for me yesterday even if I did not ask." He sat down in the chair and began to eat.  
Devon watched silently. Not having anything to say, not that he could really speak his mind with that cursed spell on him.  
A few minutes later, the Count stopped eating and looked at Devon. "Come closer." He said, pushing his chair away from the table.  
Devon stepped closer to him, the Count put a hand on his back and bent him over his lap. Devon began to panic. "I'm sorry I ate your cereal! I thought we were sharing food! Please don't spank me!" He begged.  
"Calm down." Said the Count, putting a hand on his back to keep him steady and beginning to lightly tap him on his sore rear.  
Devon whimpered a bit as it stung at first, but calmed down and relaxed when he felt a soothing sensation wash over him. The pain went away a few seconds later.  
The Count took him off his lap and stood him up. "There, I have healed your aching bottom and the spell has lifted. You should be more than capable of helping me tonight." He said, pushing his chair back in and continuing to eat.  
"Thank you." Devon said, sincerely. He sat down in a seat next to the Count. "About tonight..." He started.  
"Hmm?" The Count asked, swallowing a spoonful of soup.  
"I got some calls, they were calls complaining about some of my friends. They're weredogs." Devon said.  
"Go on." The Count said.  
"The calls were about them stealing or eating homework..." Devon said.  
"What is the problem exactly?" The Count asked, eating another spoonful of soup.  
"They're 18, so you don't have to worry about punishing them, right?" Devon asked.  
"I have punished adults before. And I still spank you, do I not?" Count Spankulot asked.  
"Yes." Devon replied. He tried to think up a plan to help his friends, after another minute he asked. "You know how vampires have the need to spank?"  
"Yes, I am aware of my own needs." The Count replied.  
"Weredogs have a need to eat good homework." Devon continued.  
"Why don't they just eat their own homework?" Asked the Count.  
"That's like asking why you don't spank yourself." Devon retorted.  
"Because it would not give me the same feeling. I gain power when I spank naughty childrens. Plus it would hurt." Said the Count.  
"Exactly. No matter how much of my own work I eat I still feel the need to hunt and eat a kid's math homework or a kindergartener's drawing of her family that she had to do for homework or a gifted student's history report that could get him that above average GPA of 6.0... I've only come across one of those..." Devon said, he started to salivate a bit just talking about it. "The look on his face when I tore into that large stack of papers... They tasted like the sweetest, richest desserts in the world... That night I ate dessert before dinner and it was so good..."  
"Look, I know you are worried about your friends. But they have been bad and they must be punished for stealing knowledge that wasn't theirs. I do not give more spankings than what is warranted. Justice is justice, they must pay." The Count said, standing up. "Be ready, we leave in 10 minutes." He said and left the kitchen.  
Devon just sat there, he wasn't really surprised that reasoning with him didn't work. It looked like he had to prepare for the inevitable, he had to help the Count punish his pack, an act of betrayal to his own kind...


	7. Chapter 7

Ch. 7

Devon stood from the kitchen table and went to the master bedroom to put his armor on and get his staff. He also took a large satchel with him, he wanted to store any good homework he found tonight, he knew he couldn't eat every last scrap he found. When he was outfitted he walked out of the room, he stopped in the hallway and checked to make sure that Count Spankulot was nowhere to be seen. He then made a dash to the phone room. He grabbed a sheet of paper, scribbled down the spell of healing a few times, ripped the paper into strips and stuffed them into his satchel. If he couldn't save his pack from a spanking, then the least he could do was stop the pain. At least he knew Riley, the only member of his pack who wasn't told on, would be safe. He went out to the courtyard where the Count was waiting.  
"Since you had to make me put a spell on you for so long today I can't teleport us very far, which means we'll have to fly everywhere tonight. Let's go." Said the Count as he flew into the sky.  
Devon soon joined and followed him. It was a clear night, the moon was Waxing Gibbous tonight and it was a cool early fall night. It would have been almost beautiful if not for what was going to take place tonight. In the next few hours Devon accompanied Count Spankulot to several houses. Most of the time he didn't have to defend the Count from anything and just looked around for homework while the Count dealt out punishments. Devon quickly learned that bad kids don't do their homework, or if they did it was either incomplete or disgustingly incorrect. He barely had 3 pages of homework stored in his satchel by the time they visited more than 2 dozen houses.  
The vampire and weredog were at Brian and Patrick's house where Devon saw something he hadn't before, Count Spankulot had both boys bent across his lap and was spanking both of them at once. Devon didn't spend much time watching before he started sniffing around for homework. He found a backpack and searched through it, he pulled out some papers and saw it was Patrick's math homework. It was atrocious, everything was wrong. 2x3=Q, 3x16=Pie, 1,675x2,578=0. He felt sick just looking at it. He shoved the papers back into the backpack and started searching again, hoping that Brian was at least smarter than a rock. He found some papers on a desk, it was Brian's math homework. He saw that it was perfect and it smelled good as well. He picked the papers up and was about to put them in his satchel.  
"What are you doing?" Asked the Count.  
Devon looked behind him and saw the Count standing near him. "I'm... Uh... Storing homework..." He answered, hesitantly. He knew that Count Spankulot didn't like when weredogs stole homework, he was trying to be as sneaky as he could about it, but it looked like he'd been caught...  
"Drop the homework!" The Count ordered.  
Devon put the papers down.  
"Remove your armor." The Count ordered.  
"... But..." Devon tried to protest.  
"NOW!" The Count demanded.  
"Armor off..." Devon said and the armor retracted back into the tank top he was wearing.  
The Count grabbed him by the back of his tank top and dragged him over to one of the beds. He sat down on the bed and pulled Devon over his knees.  
"How come it's alright for you to fulfill your need to spank, but when I try to eat homework it's bad?" Devon protested.  
"One is for justice and one is for evil!" Count Spankulot said, beginning to spank him.  
"You-... Ow!... Are a... Ow!... Villain too... Ow!... We're on the... Ow!... Same side... OUCH!" Devon said.  
"We may be counted among the villains. But I'm an antihero more than anything else. Now, stop trying to get out of your spanking..." The Count said, hitting even harder.  
"I'm just... Ah!... Trying to make a... Ow!... Point... Ouch!" Devon said.  
"So am I! This is my point! Never. Eat. Anyone's. Homework. Again!" Count Spankulot spanked him hard and with solid strikes.  
Devon grunted and yelled a bit in pain. He wasn't going to apologize for this one...  
About 3 minutes later the punishment was over. Devon tried to suppress his sobs of pain as he laid across the vampire's lap.  
"Let the stinging of your backside be a reminder to never eat a child's homework, whether they're innocent or guilty, it does not matter." Warned the Count.  
Devon wanted to protest, but knew very well the vampire was set in his ways.  
The Count stood him up then stood as well. "Come, we must help the cat lady next. Don't fall behind..." He flew out the open window.  
Devon opened his satchel, took out one of the slips of paper which had the healing spell on it and ate it. Within seconds of swallowing it the pain was gone. He was glad that he made more than 3. After activating his armor again he flew out the window and after the Count. He questioned why he even followed the Count anymore, all logic told him to leave. But there was a strange feeling that he had to stay, to put up with him, to be a representative for weredogs and to help foster a better understanding between vampire and weredog. He did not know why he had to be the one to do it, but he felt an obligation to stay and try to befriend him.  
Within a few minutes they got to another neighborhood, Devon recognized the cat lady's house even after all these years. He remembered the times when he and his pack would attack her house for no reason when they were in the Kids Next Door, it was cats verses weredogs, those were good times... Devon suddenly gasped when he saw the Count stop at the one story house next door. That's where Riley lived. Riley had a younger brother, Devon knew the cat lady's call was complaining about him and not Riley. So at least one of Devon's pack members was safe. He landed next to the Count who was peering through a window. He saw a child asleep in his bed.  
The Count made the window fly open which awoke and startled the little boy who was about 10. The Count flew into the room. "Those who shave innocent cats shall feel the stingy wrath of Count Spankulot!" Said the Count as he laughed maniacally.  
"Wait! It wasn't my fault!" Said the boy.  
"Then whose fault was it?" The Count asked.  
"It was my older brother, Riley. He threatened to eat my homework if I didn't shave a cat." Said the boy.  
"He's a weredog too? Where is he?" Asked the Count.  
"His room is right down the hall." Said the boy.  
The Count walked over to him. "You still shaved a cat, so what makes you think you're getting off easy?" He asked.  
"But Riley made me do it!" The child protested.  
"Did Riley possess you?" Asked the Count.  
"N-... No." The child said, beginning to shake with fear.  
"You did the crime, so you must take the punishment." Said the Count, reaching for him.  
"Wait! Wh-... Whatever you're getting paid, I'll double it!" Said the boy.  
"I do not take bribes." The Count said, wagging a finger at him.  
The boy tried to jump out of bed and run, but the Count caught him, quickly placing the boy over his lap and delivering spankings to his backside while laughing.  
Devon climbed through the window and snuck across the room while the Count was busy. He walked out of the room and started down the dark hallway towards Riley's room. He suddenly stopped as he saw a canid figure running towards him with fully red, glowing eyes. In moments he was on the floor, with a large German Shepard on top of him staring down at him while growling.  
The dog's demeanor changed suddenly from anger to confusion. "Devon?" He asked, his eyes changing to a yellow color.  
"Yeah, it's me, Riley. Who did you think you were going to maul?" Devon said.  
Riley got off of Devon. "Sorry, Dev, but you don't smell like yourself, I didn't recognize you. You smell like vampire."  
Devon got up. "Yes, I have been living with one for the past 2 days. That's not important right now, your brother ratted you out to the Count."  
"He did what?!" Riley asked, growling a bit.  
"Once the Count is finished with your bother, he'll come after you. You have to get ou-" Devon was suddenly interrupted by a thick blanket of dark fog filling hallway.  
"Those who threaten to eat the homework of their brother in the name of some prank shall feel the power of Count Spankulot!" The Count emerged from the fog and grabbed Riley by the scruff of the neck.  
Riley snarled and struggled against him. But quickly found himself held down across a knee. He was being spanked firmly by the Count. He let out a few yelps of pain, but for the most part tried to keep silent.  
"No..." Devon said quietly, he had failed to help his friend.  
In around a minute it was over, the Count took Riley off his lap and stood up, looking at Devon.  
Devon started to back up, but found himself backed up into corner.  
The Count went toward him, he removed his right glove again. It always hurt more with the glove off. He extended his hand toward Devon.  
Devon's armor was suddenly retracted back into his tank top and now the only thing he had to guard against the Count's hand were his pants.  
"Those who try to save the guilty from my hand shall feel my hand even harder!" The Count said, grabbing Devon by the tank top, taking a knee, putting him over it and spanking him with his bare hand.  
The first couple whacks reduced Devon to tears. This time it felt as if he had nothing guarding against the Count's hand. He tried to struggle, but it was futile, it had simply made the vampire increase the speed and power of the spanks. Devon couldn't help but let out a yell with nearly every slap.  
Over 3 minutes later it was over. The Count stood and let Devon fall off his knee. "Meet me outside when you pick yourself up off the floor." The Count said as he slipped his glove back on and disappeared.  
Devon laid on the floor, sobbing slightly. He opened up his satchel and took out 2 slips of paper. He ate one and within a few seconds the pain vanished. He stood up and went over to Riley who was picking himself up off the floor.  
Riley turned back into a human again, he was a slightly buff, tan young man with dark brown hair. He rubbed the seat of his pants. "Man, I forgot how much a spanking from Spankulot hurts..." He said.  
"You're telling me, I was spanked about 4 times today..." Devon said, handing him the extra slip of paper.  
Riley ate it. "Ahh, much better... Thanks, chief."  
"Don't mention it. I have to do this 3 more times because the others got ratted out too." Devon said.  
"Why can't they just be more careful?" Asked Riley.  
"Says the dog that blackmailed his kid brother for a prank." Devon said.  
Riley laughed a bit. "Yeah, although this is the first time he's told on me."  
"Don't worry, he got spanked too." Devon said.  
"Heh, serves him right. Well, you be careful out there Dev." Riley said.  
"You too." Devon said, he went into Riley's brother's room. He saw the kid hiding under the covers, crying. Devon climbed out the window and shut it.  
"You took your time getting here." The Count said, walking up to Devon.  
"I'm sorry, sir." Devon said.  
"Come on, the sun won't wait for us" The Count said.  
"You mean the Earth won't, because the Earth spins and that's what causes day and night." Devon said.  
"I do not need a science lesson, I need you to hurry and follow." The Count said, flying into the air.  
Devon activated his armor and followed.  
"Where's the next weredog I have been called to punish?" Asked the Count.  
"But you have at least 30 more kids to punish before-" Devon started to say.  
"I said next weredog." Demanded the vampire.  
"Gregory, his younger brother called to complain that he's been eating his homework. He lives at..." Devon told him the address and they went towards the place. It hurt Devon to do this to his pack, but at least he knew he could ease their pain after it was over. He hoped they'd forgive him.  
A few minutes passed as they were flying. The Count suddenly stopped in mid air and looked down. Devon hovered beside him and looked as well. There was a kid spray painting a car. The Count swooped down to discipline him. Devon figured this was his chance to slip away and help his friend. He flew away towards Gregory's house.  
Devon got to the house within a couple minutes and landed by a window. He looked through it and saw Gregory sleeping on his bed in his weredog form, he was a large black and white husky. It looked like he had a feast judging by the shredded paper all over his bed. Devon opened the window and climbed into the room. "Greg?" He asked as he went toward him.  
The husky suddenly woke up and looked right at Devon, his eyes were red. He jumped out of bed and gripped Devon by the neck, pushing him against a wall and snarling. He suddenly loosened his grip and his eyes changed to yellow. "Devon?" Gregory asked, letting him go.  
Devon took a breath of air and coughed. "Yes, Greg... It's me..." He said, a bit irritated.  
"I'm sorry, the first thing I smelled was vampire... Are you alright?" Gregory asked.  
"Yes, I'll be fine. Listen, your brother ratted you out. Count Spankulot is after you. You have to get out, now." Devon said.  
Gregory moved towards the window, but it slammed shut.  
A fog filled the room.  
"Oh no, he's here..." Devon said.  
"A bounty hunter always gets his target, especially a bounty hunter of bottoms..." The Count said as he emerged from the fog.  
"The bounty reward is a kid's allowance! Is it really worth it?!" Devon asked.  
The Count laughed a bit. "I don't care for money, all I care about is the thrill of the spanking! And you both have been very bad boys." The vampire went toward them.  
Devon and Gregory backed up. Devon had placed himself in between the Count and Gregory.  
"You know, it's admirable that you want to protect your friend, but futile nonetheless! I always catch my victim..." Said the Count.  
Devon's eyes glowed red and he growled.  
"Tsk tsk tsk..." The Count said, wagging his finger at him. "You're going to be a bad dog again, eh?" He asked, he raised his hand and smacked him across the face.  
Devon fell to the floor, all the pain was in his rear, like the Count whacked him on the rear instead of the face. He then realized he couldn't move, he could only breathe and blink. The Count had put a spell on him again.  
Gregory snarled, his eyes glowing red again.  
"No, no, no... Bad doggy!" Said the Count, holding his hand out. An energy blast shaped like a hand shot out of the Count's palm and grew big enough to wrap around Gregory.  
Gregory fell to the floor, he was unable to move much, but still struggled.  
Count Spankulot grabbed the husky and placed him across his lap after he sat down on the bed. The vampire started to spank Gregory while laughing manically as the weredog squirmed in his grasp.  
It pained Devon to hear the yelps of his friend, but there was nothing he could do.  
A minute later it was over. The energy from around Gregory disappeared and the Count took the weredog off his lap and let him drop onto the bed when he couldn't stand on his own feet. Devon guessed the Count had put a paralysis spell on Gregory as well.  
The Count stood and looked at Gregory. "Let that be a lesson to you. Never eat homework again!" He then looked at Devon and walked over to him. "There is only 2 hours left before the sun rises and I do not have time for your antics. I will send you home and patrol the neighborhood for wrongdoers. I shall put the same spell I put on you this afternoon so that you cannot interfere with my work anymore tonight. You will feel my hand spank you for at least 5 minutes, your crime has to be punished after all."  
Devon felt his jaw loosen up to where he could speak. "Don't you mean there 'are' 2 hours left?" He asked, unable to resist the urge to correct the vampire's grammar error.  
The Count sighed and delivered a hard smack across Devon's rear.  
Devon grunted in pain as he felt it go through his armor and bite into his flesh.  
"What are the names and addresses of the other weredogs that need to be punished tonight?" Asked the Count.  
"I'm not telling... I won't let you hurt my pack!" Devon said.  
"You are being difficult tonight. No matter..." The Count said, raising his hand and delivering a few firm smacks to Devon's bottom.  
Devon tried to stop his shouts of pain, but couldn't hold it in. It just stung too bad. There must have been some magic behind those spanks.  
"I can do this all night." The Count said, raising his hand higher.  
"Alright! I'll tell you... Their names are Fifi and Jose, they live at..." Devon told him the addresses.  
"Good boy, that wasn't so hard now was it. See you tomorrow." Said the Count, delivering one final swat to Devon's rear.  
Devon suddenly found himself back at the castle laying near the master bedroom. He felt able to move again and stood up only to fall forward again as he felt a hand strike him hard across the rear, he instinctively looked behind him and there was no one there again, he walked into the bedroom while the invisible hand continued to spank him. "Armor... Ah!... Off..." He said. His armor retracted back into his tank top, it was no use to him right now anyway. He put his staff down and laid on his bed. He preferred to lay on something soft and be at least a bit comfortable until this 5 minute punishment was over. He groaned every time the hand delivered a solid strike. This was somehow worse, with the Count doing the punishing he could at least struggle and delay the next strike if only for a second, but with this he could do nothing to stop it. Weredogs couldn't fight well against magic, the only time a weredog could even cast a spell most of the time was if the spell was written down and eaten. Devon knew no spell to cancel magic curses put on him, he only knew a spell to heal physical pain, not that it would do him any good now, the hand could just keep spanking him. Devon growled a bit as the hand kept spanking him, he was angry that he didn't study magic spells more, then he would be able to fix this! The hand increased its speed and power, Devon began to flinch slightly. The spell was on its third minute and would be over soon, well at least the punishing part...  
A few minutes later the punishment was done. Devon stood up slowly after a couple of minutes and rubbed his sore behind. He walked out of the bedroom and toward the exit of the castle, he wanted to take care of the homework in his satchel. He hoped the spell would be alright with that... As soon as he stepped out the front door he got his answer, he felt no pain so at least he could walk around the castle grounds without a worry. He walked around to the back of the castle where there was a large yard and a garden. There was a large dog house on the lawn which had 'K9' painted on it and the entrance was sealed by a metal door. There was also a tiny lens on the left side near the door. Devon walked up to the dog house and placed his face in front of the lens, looking into it and the metal door slid open. There was a large sack inside the house. Devon opened the sack, it was filled with homework. He opened up his satchel and put the 3 pages of homework he found tonight with the rest of his stash. He tied the sack back up and shut the door to his dog house. He was smart enough to know not to dig a hole in this backyard or Spankulot would tan his hide for sure, so storing his stash in a dog house he placed in the backyard would be the next best thing. He made his way back into the castle and to the master bedroom. He wanted to get some sleep, hopefully he would be able to sleep with the stinging in his rear. He dragged his bed out to the hallway, he didn't think that he or the Count wanted to share a room tonight. He laid down and shut his eyes, trying to fall asleep.  
Devon was awakened about an hour later to the sound of footsteps, he saw Count Spankulot trudging through the hallways with a limp in his step, bruises on his face and his clothes torn.  
"I found the rest of the naughty weredogs, they fought back... Fifi kicked me in an area that shouldn't be kicked... And I thought when Jose turned into a little chihuahua that it would be easy to spank him... I was wrong... He hit me in the face with a giant rawhide bone... Repeatedly!" Said the Count.  
"Yeah, despite his size, Jose will mess you up." Devon said, sitting up. He noticed that the Count looked miserable and he couldn't help but offer to assist him. "I wish I could help you, but I only know how to heal a weredog's injuries."  
"Perhaps you can. My healing spell can be reversed onto me, but as always I have to spank you to do it." Said the Count.  
Devon sighed. "Say no more. Just do it..."  
The Count took a knee and Devon bent over it. He then started to spank him, harder than he did when he healed him and it hurt.  
"Ow! Hey, I didn't do anything!" Devon complained, looking at him.  
"I'm sorry, but I have to do this a bit harder when healing myself." The Count said, continuing to spank him.  
Devon looked forward while growling out of slight annoyance because of the discomfort.  
The Count was soon healed as his bruises and pain disappeared. His spanks then became lighter and a soothing feeling washed over Devon as his pain vanished. The vampire felt the weredog relax. "You've paid for your behavior tonight, there is no reason why you should feel the sting anymore." The Count said.  
"Thank you." Devon replied while turning to him.  
"And if I ever get calls about your friends again I will not make you accompany me. I realize how much that must have hurt you." The Count said.  
"Thank you." Devon said, a bit more grateful this time.  
"You are welcome. I am sorry that I made you come with me when I punished two of your friends. You did not deserve to see that, but it's not to say they did not deserve the spanking I gave to them." The Count said.  
Devon nodded and got off the vampire's knee. "About the not eating homework thing..." He felt he had to try to bring it up one more time, the Count was in a good mood so perhaps he'll be more reasonable.  
The Count stood. "My word on that is final, Devon." He said sternly.  
"Hear me out please. What if I only took the graded homework?" Devon asked.  
"Absolutely not!" Count Spankulot said.  
Devon flinched a bit at the vampire's harsh tone. "What harm can I do if I take only the graded homework? A little science paper with an A+ on it won't be missed."  
"I said no! And if I catch you stealing homework again I won't be so nice about it next time." Count Spankulot warned as he walked into the room and shut the door.  
Devon sighed, it looked like there was no way to persuade the vampire. Perhaps in time the Count will allow him and all weredogs to hunt as they please. Devon had to not let emotions get the better of him here. He knew the Count must have had some bad experiences with weredogs or heard of other's bad experiences during the war. He had to be patient and understand that the vampire had to learn to trust him a bit more, he was willing to be patient and wait. Devon laid down on the bed more comfortably this time and tried to go back to sleep.  
The bedroom door opened. "Devon?" Asked the Count, poking his head out.  
"Yes, Count?" Devon asked, looking up at him.  
"I will leave this torn up suit near the front of the wardrobe, there is a sewing kit in one of the drawers in the kitchen. Sew up my suit." Said the Count, he then shut the door.  
"But wait, I can't sew..." Devon said. There was no response. He sighed in an annoyed manner and guessed he had a new skill to learn tomorrow.  
Devon woke up at noon. He got out of bed and stretched. It was time for another day of work, but first a bath and breakfast. He went into the bedroom and tiptoed to the wardrobe, getting clean clothes. He then went to his duffle bag and got a bottle of shampoo and a towel. He went out of the room, carefully shut the door, traversed the castle and found the restroom. The bathroom was small, the sink was shaped like a hand, there was no mirror and there was a small plaque on the wall that said "Spare the hand, spoil the child." While Devon did feel the urge to correct the word 'hand' to 'rod', he guessed that was just the Count's creative license with that quote, so he'll leave it alone. After taking a bath, changing into clean clothes, eating a bowl of soup for brunch and washing the dishes that piled up over the last few days, he decided to first get to work on fixing the Count's torn suit from last night. He went back into the bedroom, got the suit, went into the kitchen and got out the sewing kit which was just a needle and a roll of thread. He sat down at the table and took out his phone. "Siri, how do I sew?" He asked his phone.  
"I found a Wikihow article about sewing." His phone said back.  
Devon read it and followed its instructions. "OW! Motherf-..." He said after poking his finger with the needle, trying to thread it. A drop of blood fell onto the suit. "Oh, shihtzu!" He said as he saw the blood on the suit. He got up from the table, got a napkin and wrapped his finger to stop the small amount of blood from coming out. He went to the phone room and filled a paper up with healing spells. He tore the paper into strips, ate one and was healed. He took the rest of the strips of paper with him back to the kitchen, he might need them...  
About an hour later he finished sewing the suit up only to realize that there were chunks of fabric missing, indicating that when Fifi and Jose attacked the vampire last night they tried to take a few bites out of him. This suit was unable to be fixed with just sewing it up. Devon decided to just abandon his tailoring project and go back to taking calls, he's done all he can for this suit. He went back to the bedroom, hung the suit on the doorknob and went back to the phone room. He spent the next few hours listening to messages and taking calls. He made double copies of the calls as he's noticed a pattern these past couple of nights that put the Count behind on his work. The Count relied on him to write down calls, eat them and remember them, but when Devon was sent back to the castle the Count lost his way of knowing which child or teen was next. So in the event of the weredog's future banishments to the castle the Count could have a way of knowing who was next by getting a copy of the calls.  
Devon heard the phone ring, but it was his cell phone this time. He answered. "Hello?"  
"Hello, Devon. It's me, Riley. Gregory, Fifi and Jose are in the call as well." Riley said.  
"Hello Greg, Fifi, Jose." Devon greeted, not as confidently as he used to speak to his pack.  
"Dev, Riley and Greg told me and Jose you were at their houses last night with Count Spankulot." Fifi said.  
"Yes, I tried to help them escape an unfair spanking. I'm sorry I couldn't get to you and Jose, I was sent back to the castle because the Count didn't want to deal with me anymore last night. And I am working as his secretary, taking calls from people who want Count Spankulot to punish someone. I'm sorry, but yesterday I was forced to take down your information and report you to the Count. I swear I didn't want to, I tried to get out of it." Devon said.  
"Dev, chief, it's no big deal. It was not that bad. And you have to do what you have to do. We forgive you." Riley said.  
"And besides Fifi and I got a shot at him last night, or a few shots... And bites..." Jose said and laughed a bit.  
"Yeah, so it's not as if we're helpless. If the Count comes for us it's not as if we are going to stop eating homework or anything. We'll just have to work on being more stealthy in our approach." Fifi said.  
"Speaking of homework, Bob Dren is studying for at least 5 different tests for next week and he is bound to have a bunch of homework with him. A little spying has told me that he's got a friend over for a study session. Hopefully she does homework like him and we'll have double the feast tonight." Said Riley.  
"I'm sorry, I can't." Devon said in a miserable tone.  
"Then what about this evening? Spankulot only works at night, right? And we've got a few hours before sunset. We can go out for a quick bite and you'll be back before the vampire even knows you're gone." Gregory said.  
"I mean, the Count has forbidden me to eat homework." Devon said.  
"That hasn't stopped you before, has it?" Jose asked.  
"I work for him now, I can't disobey." Said Devon.  
"Eating homework is as essential to a weredog as it is to breathe." Said Fifi.  
"I know, I have told him that, but he's a stubborn vampire. He won't listen to reason." Devon said.  
"You have to eat some, you're the alpha of our pack." Said Riley.  
Devon sighed. "I know, I got a stash of homework in my dog house. I can just eat that."  
"But, you're saving that for the full moon, you've never eaten from that stash." Gregory said.  
"I know, this is confusing for me too... I'll figure something out." Devon said.  
"Why not just quit?" Jose asked.  
"It's so weird, but I have this nagging feeling that I must stay... And that me staying will help Count Spankulot accept our kind." Devon said.  
"So you feel like you want to represent our kind, that's why you stay?" Jose asked.  
"Yes." Devon answered.  
"I just hope you know what you're doing, chief." Riley said.  
"I do." Devon said.  
"Alright." Riley responded.  
"Hey, if you need some homework to tide you over, come find me. My little sister is on the principal's list." Jose said.  
"Let's avoid stealing from relatives, alright? That'll limit our time on Count Spankulot's knee." Devon said.  
"Agreed." The others answered.  
"I'll figure out what to do. You guys just do what you do, I won't report your hunt." Devon said.  
"Alright, we'd rather have our alpha with us on the hunt, but since you can't..." Riley said.  
"Riley, you're the beta, you can lead the pack in my stead this evening." Devon said.  
"Alright, chief. We'll save the best for you. You deserve a sheet from the hunt." Riley said.  
"Thank you." Devon said.  
"Anytime. Good luck." Riley said.  
"You too." Devon said. The call then ended. He put his phone away and stood up. He guessed he would head to the kitchen and heat up the Count's soup. How did it get to this? Being the great alpha to a formidable pack of weredogs to being a vampire's dog? It was degrading if he really thought about it. One part of him was saying stay and make peace with the Count, while another part was howling at him to assert his dominance, leave the vampire and lead his pack in their hunt for knowledge. What was he going to listen to...?... He was getting hungry….


	8. Chapter 8

Ch. 8

In a neighborhood, near a one story white house, four weredogs were hiding in some bushes waiting for their prey to be brought out. There was Riley the German Shepherd, Gregory the Husky, Fifi the white Poodle and Jose the black and brown long haired Chihuahua. They saw movement in the house, the movement of small humans. The door suddenly opened and two children suddenly came out of the house, they were about 12 years old. There was one boy and one girl, both had large backpacks with them. They began to walk down the driveway together.  
The weredogs all licked their chops as they eyed the backpacks. Jose started to step toward the children. Riley put a paw on his tail and stopped him. "Not yet." The German Shepherd whispered.  
The kids stepped onto the sidewalk, but stopped as they heard a loud howl that sounded like a wolf's.  
Devon suddenly jumped out of some other bushes and landed in front of the kids, he was in his weredog form and had crimson eyes. He growled at the kids, curling his lips back.  
The children started to back away, they were terrified.  
The other weredogs jumped out of the bushes and landed behind the kids, blocking their escape.  
"I see you made it after all, chief." Riley said.  
"Didn't think I'd miss a hunt like this, right?" Devon asked.  
"Robert, what are they?!" Asked the girl, hiding behind the boy.  
"They're homework eating weredogs... Don't worry, Pricilla, I won't let them near your homework." The boy said.  
Devon laughed. "Bobby, Bobby, Bobby... Trying to be tough for your girl, eh?"  
"My name is Robert, dog!" Robert tried to say it boldly, with his chest puffed out, his knees meanwhile were shaking.  
Devon sniffed the air. "Smell that, Bobby? That's your fear. Also your knees are shaking and I believe you will lose control of your bladder in just a minute." He laughed.  
The other weredogs laughed.  
"So why not make it less embarrassing and just hand over the homework?" Fifi asked.  
"Yeah, our alpha needs sustenance. He's very hungry..." Gregory said.  
"And so are we!" Jose said, growling.  
Robert took off his backpack.  
"Robert, don't! Your teacher said that if you show up without homework again she'll only give you a 4.5 GPA instead of the 5.0 you've been working on!" Pricilla said.  
"That's it kid, give us that homework. A grade is counting on it, which makes it all the more sweeter..." Devon said, getting closer to the large backpack Robert was holding in front of him.  
Robert then hit Devon in the side of the head with the backpack.  
The weredog alpha yelped and fell over, feeling like he was just hit with a bag of bricks. His pack crowded around him, asking if he was alright. Devon opened his eyes, they were fully red and slightly aglow with rage. He stood up and growled. He looked and saw the kids trying to escape down the street. "GET THEM! Bring me that homework!" Devon ordered.  
The entire pack began to run after the kids. Devon was at the front, snarling as he pursued.  
Robert was leading Pricilla away from them, running as fast as he could. He could hear the sounds of angry dogs barking and snarling. They ran out of the neighborhood. Soon they tried to duck in an alleyway, but stopped as they saw a dead end. There was no way out. The two kids turned around and saw the five dogs walking slowly toward them, slightly crouched, fur standing on end and canines bared.  
"I did not ask for my meal to be taken back... Now, don't try to run, we're tired and we'd prefer to savor our meal now..." Devon said.  
Suddenly a large cloud of smoke separated the weredogs from the children. The wind howled, the sky grew dark with clouds as thunder and lightning was heard and seen. "You will not eat the homeworks of these innocent childrens!" Said the voice of Count Spankulot.  
"Huh?" Asked Devon as he looked up and saw the Count perched on a small building looking down at them ominously. Devon backed up a bit. "Run!" He said as all the weredogs tried to run out of the alley.  
The Count flew down and landed in front of them, blocking their way. The vampire walked toward them as they backed away. "Do you honestly think I would not know where you went? Do you really think I'm that stupid?" He asked Devon.  
Devon didn't answer as he backed up, he regretted listening to his hunger, if only for a second at the back of his mind in his subconscious.  
"I had to use magic to track you down. Do you know how much that'll put me behind on traveling to hunt naughty childrens!? Hopefully I can get some power back from giving you and your friends a good spanking!" Said the Count as he raised a hand. Black hands made out of energy came up out of the ground and restrained each weredog. They tried to break free, but it was useless.  
Over the next few minutes, Devon had to watch each of his pack members be spanked. It hurt him so much to hear their yelps of pain, and to hear Count Spankulot's laughter as he spanked them was just chilling.  
Count Spankulot released the last weredog after he finished spanking him. Everyone else had already run off and it was just the Count and Devon left in the alley. The vampire raised his hand again and the magic hand from around Devon disappeared. "I won't punish you here. Let's go!" He said, grabbing Devon by the ear and yanking him to his feet.  
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ear..." Devon complained as he was walked out of the alley by the ear.  
Someone was watching the vampire and weredog from above the alley, a larger female wolf-like weredog with dark brown fur was standing on top of a small building. She had a gold necklace with an emerald gem around her neck, gold earrings in her ears and human-like brown hair with slightly grey tips on top of her head. She looked on with displeasure as Count Spankulot disappeared from view with Devon.  
The Count and Devon eventually got back to the castle when the sun was going down. They got to the courtyard and the Count let Devon go.  
Devon turned back into his human form and held his ear, massaging it a bit. "OW! You could have torn my ear off!" He said, over exaggerating.  
"You deliberately disobeyed me not even one day after I ordered you not to eat homework! You put innocent children's grades at risk!" The vampire scolded.  
"I'm surprised you didn't say 'childrenses'." Devon commented. He was quickly smacked across the rear. "OW!" He said as he put a hand on his own rear.  
"Come on!" Said the Count, grabbing hold of his other ear and dragging him into the castle. He dragged him into a spare bedroom and let him go. "Stay!" The Count commanded sternly and left the room.  
Devon rubbed his other ear as he watched the Count leave. He didn't know what the Count was going to do, but he had a feeling to prepare himself for the worst, the vampire was mad at him and he knew it. Why would he stay to get punished? He could just go out the window and escape, never seeing the vampire again. Why was he putting up with all this? He somehow felt as if he couldn't leave. That nagging feeling to stay again he guessed.  
Count Spankulot came back into the room again. He raised his right hand and Devon saw something written on his glove. The vampire had written something incorrect on his glove and had the intent to spank Devon while wearing the glove.  
Devon started to back up. "No, no, no, no... Please! That's going to hurt! Correct that..." He begged.  
"No! You deserve this for disobeying me. You must be punished!" The Count said, making a grab for Devon.  
Devon jumped back and tried to open the window to jump out of it. He was grabbed by the back of the shirt, dragged over to the vampire and put over his waiting knee. Devon was terrified and tried to struggle, until the first swat landed. "OW!" He cried as he felt a sting unlike any other. The other swats he received were just as bad. They were rapid and hard. "Plea-... Ah!... Please, stop!... AH!... It hurts!"  
"You have been bad and must be punished for your naughtiness!" The Count said, continuing to spank him.  
Devon yelled in pain, but he soon felt weaker. Feeling his brain go numb. This is what happen when weredogs got hit with incorrectness that was written down, his entire body felt numb then and he soon drifted into the sweet painless embrace of unconsciousness.  
Devon woke up a few hours later on the floor, slowly regaining his senses. He heard a faint howl that grew louder as his mind and senses regained clarity again. The pain in his rear completely vanished. He stood, a bit shakily at first, but quickly regained his strength as he heard the howl echo in his mind. His eyes turned red as he felt the primal power in him again, he had to answer the call. He transformed into a weredog and walked into the backyard, opened the door to his dog house and grabbed the sack of homework with his jaws. He left the castle grounds without a hinderance and proceeded to walk down the street, he thought of nothing else but taking that homework to the source of the howl as he walked the streets under the light of the full moon in an almost trance-like state. Within a few minutes he passed by the Kids Next Door treehouse and made his way towards another house on a hill. This was a large house with multiple floors. The entrance was a large open doorway shaped like an arch with the word 'Rover' written above it. As soon as Devon stepped into the house he was greeted with the sight of many weredogs. Most of them were young, like still in grade school. His own pack was also there, it seemed like this evening's earlier events hadn't deterred them from heeding the call either. They said nothing to each other. As soon as Devon walked farther into the house all the weredogs stopped what they were doing and made room for him to pass by. He walked up a flight of stairs and to the second floor. There were bundles, stacks, sacks and boxes of homework all over. He saw a couple of weredogs sitting near a throne. There was a separate pile of homework near the throne. On the throne was the same female weredog that had been near the alley that evening. Devon walked up to her, dropped his sack of homework at her feet and bowed his head.  
She leaned forward and put her paw under his chin and lifted his head up. "No need to bow. You've done enough bowing to someone's will today." She said.  
"Thank you, mother." Devon says in a respectful tone. He opened the sack and took a few sheets of homework out and put it on the pile of homework near the throne.  
"By tradition, the queen eats first. But why don't you join me this time, you are going to be future king someday." Said Devon's mother.  
"I would be honored, mother." Devon said.  
The weredog queen got off the throne and she and her son began to eat the pile of homework set aside. Devon had never tasted from the offering before. Some of the best homework had been set aside for the queen only. He should savor this, he would get no opportunity to hunt or forage for homework with Count Spankulot around. They soon finished eating every scrap of homework from the pile.  
The queen looked at two guards. "Feed the rest of the pack." She commanded.  
The two began to take the sacks and bundles of homework and empty them from the second floor. The pages of homework fell down to the awaiting weredogs on the first floor. They ate whatever was tossed to them without squabble, they knew there was plenty of homework for everyone.  
Devon and his mother watched the feasting weredogs from the second floor. "They're going to be your subjects one day." The queen said.  
Devon was silent for a minute. "I don't think I'll be able to give them much due to my current living arrangement. You know I went to go work and live with Count Spankulot."  
"I know... I watched him drag you away after he interrupted your hunt... I wanted to rip him apart..." Said his mother.  
"So why did you not help me?" Devon asked.  
"I knew he wasn't going to do any more than spank you. You have dealt with his spankings before." Said his mother.  
"He has done worse, he has forbidden me and all weredogs from hunting or eating homework." Devon said.  
"Did you tell him why we hunt?" Asked his mother.  
"Whenever I could speak to him, yes. He seems to still favor his rules over peace with us..." Devon said.  
"It's only been a few days, maybe if you stay with him for a while longer he'll begin to learn more about us." His mother said.  
"That's the feeling I've been getting whenever I want to leave him. Do you really think he's going to accept us?" Devon asked.  
"He accepted you, didn't he?" Asked his mother.  
"He accepted me into his castle, yes. But as far as accepting me as a weredog and letting me hunt as I wish, no." Devon said.  
"I'll give you some of my students' homework." His mother said.  
"But what about the pack?" Devon asked.  
"They've survived worse, the vampire can't be everywhere at once, so as long as the humans don't see them stealing any homework in human form they should be fine to continue hunting as they please." Said his mother.  
"Good... Maybe in time Count Spankulot will see we need to eat homework just as much as he needs to spank." Devon said.  
"Yes, we can only hope that your time spent with him is worth it..." Said his mother.  
Devon looked down over the railing at the weredogs below. He hoped that for their sake it will all be worth it. He suddenly heard growling and snarling from his mother, he looked and saw her looking straight ahead with white canines bared and crimson eyes. Devon looked too and saw a figure floating in the air near the second floor.  
The queen suddenly leapt from the second floor and pounced on the figure, taking it down to the first floor. She stood over the tall figure, growling.  
"No! No! Don't hurt me! I did not mean to intrude." Begged a voice that sounded like Count Spankulot's.


	9. Chapter 9

Ch. 9

Devon ran down the stairs and passed through the weredogs crowing around his mother and Count Spankulot. "Count, what are you doing here?" He asked, looking at the vampire.  
"Devon, help me! I think she wants to kill me!" The Count said.  
"Relax, vampire. Harming you is not my intention." Devon's mother said, getting off the Count.  
Count Spankulot stood and backed away. He turned a bit as he heard growling behind him and saw that he was surrounded on all sides by angry weredogs.  
"Enough!" Said the queen. At her command all the weredogs stopped their threats. "He is a guest." She continued, her eyes changed to yellow. "My apologies for my subjects. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Queen Lilith Thompson, Queen of this pack. Now, tell me, Count, why have you come here?"  
Devon looked up at the Count. "What are you doing here? Did you follow me?" He demanded to know.  
"Yes, I followed you here and saw you eating homework!" The Count said, raising his hand with the intent to smack Devon for disobeying.  
All the weredogs started to growl again, their eyes turning red.  
The Count lowered his hand, feeling intimidated by all the weredogs.  
"Enough!" The queen barked. "I would speak with you, vampire."  
"Uh, no. That's alright, I've got to get going, lots of naughty childrens need to be punished." The Count said, nervously. When he turned around to try to leave, he was facing a massive St. Bernard wearing glasses.  
"When the queen tells you to go, you go!" The massive weredog said in a non-intimidating, nasally voice.  
The Count turned around and walked up the stairs with the queen. They went up three flights of stairs, turned into a hallway and went into a large room. The room had a teacher's desk, a chair, a chalkboard with what appeared to be a map of a neighborhood with some houses circled on it, on the opposite side of the room was a giant pillow, it was possibly a dog bed.  
"Close the door." Queen Lilith said.  
The Count shut the door and turned around to see the weredog queen looking at him. "What is this about?" He asked, nervously.  
"I have gotten several complaints from my subjects about you spanking them every time you witness them hunting for homework. And I even saw you punish Devon's pack and then drag him out of the alley by the ear!" Queen Lilith said.  
"They were bad and they had to be punished." Argued the Count.  
"Lesser weredogs must eat homework." Queen Lilith said.  
"I will not allow a weredog to eat the homework of a child, innocent or not." Said the Count.  
"Why not? Is it about the war that happen hundreds of years ago? Just let it go. My son is living with you, you can't forbid him from eating homework, he is the heir to my throne and I need him to be as smart and strong as possible." Said Queen Lilith.  
"I will not allow my family's work to be for nothing!" Said the Count.  
"What if the homework wasn't stolen?" Asked Queen Lilith.  
"Go on." Said the Count.  
"I work as a teacher, what if I keep my student's papers and give those to my subjects? The homework would be graded of course." Queen Lilith said.  
There was a moment of silence from the Count as he thought about his response to the proposition. "Very well, but only your student's papers. I don't see your weredogs eating anyone else's homework, then they shall not fear my hand." He eventually said.  
"We have a deal, Count." Queen Lilith said.  
The vampire extended his hand to the weredog queen.  
Queen Lilith accepted his handshake with semi-reluctance. At least her subjects won't starve, that is the best she can hope for, for now. Hopefully the Count will change his mind again in the future, but at least progress was being made. "Come, we must tell the others about our truce." Queen Lilith said as she walked out of the room, she hated having to negotiate with the vampire, but it was the only way to a more peaceful relationship between the two races. She went down to the second floor and stood in front of the rail, looking down at all her subjects who were looking right back up at her, waiting. "Count Spankulot and I have made a truce." She told them.  
All the weredogs started to cheer and bark happily, thinking they were free to hunt and steal homework all they want.  
"But on one condition!" Said the Count, who was standing right beside Queen Lilith. His announcement silenced the celebration and everyone waited anxiously for the vampire to state the condition. Devon was not very optimistic. "You cannot steal ANY homework! Your queen will give you homework from her students." The Count said.  
Everyone started to talk amongst themselves, with worried voices. "But she only has one gifted class, the rest of her classes are full of average kids, you know, the ones who can't even name all the Vice Presidents." Said a male weredog.  
"And the ones that can't even name the first 50 numbers in pi." Said a female weredog.  
"And the ones that can't even spell all the words in the dictionary." Said another male weredog.  
"We'll all starve!" Another weredog said.  
All the weredogs started to shout and bark angrily, trying to get their points across.  
"Enough!" Queen Lilith barked with a low growl. All the weredogs became silent. "I am aware that most of my students are as dumb as doorstops... I'll try to get them to give me back homework that you can at least keep down, but trying is all I can do. I'll make this work..." She said.  
Devon stood on his hind legs. "Hold up! I should have a say in this too since I am part of this court, as it may."  
"Go ahead, son. Speak your mind." Queen Lilith said. She knew this might end badly.  
"Why should we have to lie down before Count Spankulot's will?" Devon asked.  
"It is called a negotiation, Devon." Queen Lilith said.  
"I know, mother. But he gets all and we get around 90% less homework than we would get if we hunt. How is that fair for us? We will still eat, yes. But we'll be malnourished." Devon asked.  
"We'll also get less trouble from him. We'll still get to eat homework, and you'll never have to worry about being spanked because you chased some kid down for their homework." Queen Lilith said.  
"We've dealt with him before, for countless years, yet we still thrive." Devon said.  
"If you mean thrive as in being in constant war, then yes we did thrive. This is not all about us, it's about bringing peace. If that means we'll have to give up something to have it, then so be it." Queen Lilith said.  
After a moment of silence, Devon spoke. "You don't know the struggle, mother. You don't know because you've always been a queen! You don't need to eat good homework, you don't need to keep clear of a double F minus because your life is in danger. You could probably eat the ancient document of incorrectness that the vampires once used against the weredogs for breakfast and think it tastes good! You don't know what it feels like to go for a summer with only the backwash of homework kids in summer school crank out because they're too stupid to pass regular school!" Devon said, his eyes turning red with rage.  
Queen Lilith barked loudly, which echoed through the entire house, jumped from the second floor and landed in front of Devon, standing on her hind legs, she was taller than him. "Are you challenging me?!"  
"I am!" Devon said.  
"Dogfight for dominance! Everybody get back!" Jose said. All the weredogs got back and there was now a large circle of weredogs around the two royal hounds.  
The crystal from around Lilith's neck began to glow with emerald light and soon her entire body began to glow with the same light. Another female weredog appeared beside Lilith, it was spectral and was the same color as the light.  
"What's going on?" Asked the Count, looking down on the scene. He turned as soon as he heard someone behind him speak in a nasally voice, it was another weredog wearing taped up glasses.  
"An intellectual battle for dominance. Queen Lilith has the spirit of the weredog queen in her. When two weredogs vie for dominance the spirit will judge who is worthy. If the queen loses then the spirit will go into Devon and he will become king." Said the weredog.  
Everything was quiet for a few minutes as Devon and Lilith stood there, staring at each other, motionless.  
"Nothing's happening." The Count said.  
"The battle is an intellectual one, it's happening in their minds." Said the weredog that was beside the Count.  
Suddenly Devon took a step back. There was gasping from the crowd.  
"What's happening?" Asked the Count.  
"Queen Lilith is winning." Said the weredog.  
In a few more seconds Devon shut his eyes and stepped back again. Lilith stepped forward, making herself look bigger.  
"Yeah, he had no chance." Said the weredog near Count Spankulot.  
Devon fell on his side a moment later.  
The spirit fused back together with Lilith and she stopped glowing as she stood over her son.  
Devon opened his eyes and they were normal, he just stared blankly at his mother, not moving.  
"Now you see your place, pup! I'm doing what's best for us all. Next time think before you attempt a coup." Queen Lilith said.  
Devon turned his head towards her and flattened his ears, not in an angry way but in a submissive way, like a subordinate wolf does with an alpha.  
"You're not ready to take the throne, not yet. You have a lot to learn about what it means to be a leader. Sometimes you must sacrifice for the good of the pack." Queen Lilith said. She looked at the rest of the weredogs. "You are all forbidden to hunt, forage or scavenge for homework. I shall provide you with homework. Is that understood?" She asked.  
"Yes, Queen Lilith!" All the weredogs seemed to say in unison.  
"We're done here for tonight, return to your homes. We shall meet back tomorrow night on the second full moon." Queen Lilith commanded.  
All the weredogs slowly dispersed from the house.  
Queen Lilith got down on all fours and bent her neck down to her son. "Hold out just a bit longer, the vampire is changing his ways, slowly but surely. Don't do anything that'll get all homework off the menu for us. You're lucky that he's even allowed you into his castle, let alone gave me permission to feed the pack. Now go with him and do what he says." She said in a loud whisper.  
"Yes, mother..." Devon said as he stood up slowly.  
The Count appeared near the two weredogs. He looked at Devon. "I certainly hope you're satisfied, you have accomplished nothing."  
"No need to rub it in, I know." Devon said, not looking at him.  
"I hope you'll listen to me now when I tell you to not eat homework." The Count said.  
"Yes, Count..." Devon said, the vampire wasn't helping the situation at all.  
"I would punish you for attempting to challenge your mother's rule and trying to fight against our truce, but I believe your mother already did that." The Count said.  
Devon stifled a growl. The vampire was starting to get on his nerves even more than usual.  
The Count looked at Queen Lilith. "I am glad we were able to come to an agreement. We can't have weredogs running around stealing children's homework."  
The weredog queen nodded. "I hope we meet again, under less stressful circumstances." She said, standing on her hind legs.  
"Yes and when I'm not so busy..." The Count said, he looked at Devon. "Come, we have work to do. Some of the addresses you wrote down are near the houses of the Kids Next Door, I might need you for protection." He said, taking hold of him and disappearing.  
Queen Lilith stood alone in the empty house. She sighed loudly. "I hope I know what I'm doing..."


End file.
